The Celestial Wizard of Fairy Tail
by RyoshiMorino
Summary: Torn from the home he had known for his whole life, a young wizard awakens on a beach on the outskirts of a port town, and meets a girl that begins to change his life forever. NarutxLucy pairing. Celestial Spirit Wizard Naruto, and Angel magic Naruto. Rated M for mature content.
1. Chapter 1

**_Canon Warning: The first few chapters are gonna follow canon pretty closely, with very few differnces until things start to pick up. If you don't like it, that's okay, I don't mind, but the beginning will start of as the beginning of Fairy Tail. The only key differences will be Naruto's involvement._**

 ** _Prologue_**

 ** _Awakening_**

* * *

Eyes of blue opened to blinding white light around him. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and looked around himself. He was on a beach, that much he could tell from the coarse sand beneath him, and the smell of the salty sea on the breeze. But how in all of creation did he get there?

He looked down at himself, and found himself dressed strangely. Brown leather knee-boots covered his feet, as well as dark blue pants covering his lover half. His top half was covered mostly by a silvery-white cloak, he noticed that he also a headband on which had a crescent moon stitched into the silken fabric wrapped around his head. Beneath his cloak was a simple sleeveless piece of worn leather armor, which he knew he always wore.

He stood to his feet, unsteady as they were, and got his bearings. It was strange. This wasn't what he remembered. Behind him, as he turned away from the beach, was a bustling little town. He moved toward the docks, and found it full of ships carrying various goods, and wares to be sold.

Something wasn't right.

He hadn't fallen asleep on a beach near a town, it had been in the forest. "Where the hell am I?"

* * *

 ** _1: A Destined Meeting_**

* * *

The port town of Hargeon was a bustling little town full of people going about their business. One such person happened to be a young woman as she sighed, looking around for a somewhere she could acquire a certain magical item.

"Eh?!" The girl, a young blonde girl around seventeen said in disbelief, "You're telling me there's only one magic store in this whole town?" She moaned, looking around the small shop.

The man she was talking to was an older man with a long neck, and sideburns wearing a tall pointed hat, "Yes, I'm afraid so, Miss," he said with a slight nod of his head, "This town's always been more prosperous as a fishing port than it has in the use of magic." He said, and sat back with a thoughtful look on his face, "Only about ten percent of the people here can even use magic, so most of my customers happen to be traveling mages that are in need of supplies."

The girl sighed, "I think I've gone and wasted my time." She said exasperatedly.

But the old man just smiled, "Oh, please don't be glum, Miss, just go ahead and have a look around" he said, gesturing to the shelves around his store. "We do have some new items that you might be interested in." He reached under the counter while the girl browsed.

"What's this?" She asked more to herself than the shop keeper as she picked up an odd-looking can with a strange figure on it.

The shop keeper came back up holding a small box-like item with a small mirror on the front, "This Colors magic is probably our most popular item among the young ladies," He said, smiling, "Depending on your mood for the day." He said, activating the item, and changed his shirt from green to purple, "You can change the color of your clothes~!"

But the girl shook her head as she placed the strange item she'd been looking at back on the shelf, "I already have one of those," she sighed, continuing to look around, "What I'm really looking for are some powerful Gate Keys."

"Gate Keys, huh?" The man said, giving the girl a quizzical look, "That's a rare request, but the items are just as rare around these parts since no one uses them."

The girl frowned sadly and was about to leave until she spotted something sitting on the lowest setting shelf; a silver key with the canis minor insignia on it. "Ah! You've got the Little Doggy!" She squealed, happily scooping up the box in which the key sat.

The man frowned in return, "Well, yes, but that little one's not at all that powerful. I've sold lots of those because the spirits they summon are popular as pets."

The blonde smiled, "I don't care, I've been looking for this one for a while," she said, placing her selection on the counter, "So how much is it?"

"That's twenty thousand jewels."

...

"I'm sorry, but how much did you say this one was?" She asked, her face darkening a bit.

"I said twenty thousand jewels," the man said once more, straight-faced and serious.

The girl frowned a bit. She had the money to make the purchase, but she was a bit of a penny-pincher. And it was an outrageous price. She'd paid far less for some of her other Silver Gate Keys. She got it into her head to try and use her charms on him, but before she could, the door to the shop opened up. Both the girl and the shopkeeper turned around to see who had entered, and were shocked to see that whoever it was, was a big man.

He stood at about six feet tall, easily taller than she was, and had the shaggiest head of blond hair she had ever seen. Below that was a set of blue eyes that put sapphires to shame, and also gave her a slight chill at how empty they seemed to be. His face was tanned and young-looking, and each of his cheeks had a trio of whisker-like marks on them, making him look adorable in her eyes.

Adorable...if it weren't for the fact that below his face was a body that looked to be made of stone. And the flowing white-silver cloak he wore around his shoulders did nothing to curb his looks. ' _Oh...wow..._ ' the blonde thought as she took him in while the man walked into the store.

"Can I help you, sir?" the keeper asked as the man approached.

The man nodded, "Yeah," he spoke in a gravely voice, giving him a rumble as he spoke, "I'm afraid I'm lost. Could you tell me where I am?"

The girl looked surprised as she made room for him at the counter, "Huh? You're in Hargeon," she said, answering his question for him, "How come you didn't know where you are?"

The man scratched the back of his head, "That's the thing," he said, frowning, "I just woke up on the beach, and I don't know how I got there." He said, making the others look at him strangely, "All I remember before waking up is falling asleep under a tree at my grandmother's, the next thing I know, here I am."

"Amnesia, huh," the man behind the counter said, "Maybe you should head to one of the bigger towns like Magnolia, and see a doctor that knows magic. That oughtta sort you out."

But the man shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest, showing off powerful muscles in his arms, "No, I remember who I am, just not how I ended up on the beach," the man said, looking down at the girl beside him, "Oh, sorry, I was probably interrupting something, huh?"

"Not really," the older man said, "The little lady here was going to buy this Gate Key, but it sounds like she doesn't have the money for it."

The girl fumed, "How rude," she huffed, her hands on her hips, "I have the money, but twenty thousand jewels for this particular Key is highway robbery!"

The blond man looked down at the Key in question, "Canis Minor?" He looked from the Key to the owner, "She's right. The spirits summoned by this Key aren't anything better than pets!"

"It's popular, so I sell the ones I get at a high price," he said, shamelessly, "A guy's gotta make a living, you know?"

The blond frowned and sighed, "You're right, a person does need to live," he said, and reached into a pouch hidden by his robes, "Will you take this in trade?" He said, producing...another Gate Key?!

"So you're a Celestial Wizard, huh?" The man said, looking over the Key he held, "Ah, this is a Silver Key, but it's quite rare. This is the Key of Vulpecula, the little fox."

"Oh, wow, I've never seen this one before!" The girl said, but then her mind caught up with what he'd just said, "Wait, you mean you're buying the Key for me?!"

The blond man shrugged, "Why not? I have two of these Keys by chance, and I haven't formed a contract with this one, yet." He said, smiling, and the girl let out a whimper at how handsome he became when he smiled like that. "Besides, since you answered my question, I thought I'd pay you back in all fairness."

"But Gate Keys are expensive, even the weaker ones," she argued, "Even if it's not worth twenty thousand jewels, the Key you have _is_ , and I couldn't take advantage of someone like that."

The blond man just kept the smile on his face and held the Key out to her instead, making the shop keeper frown, "Then I'll just give it to you, instead." He said, making the girl look up at him in shock, "Call it a thank you." He said, and placed the Key in her hands. The girl shivered involuntarily as his fingers brushed against the palms of her hands when the key was given to her. He gave her a short bow before turning toward the door.

As the door closed behind him, she came out of her daze and turned back to the counter, handing over a large sum of money, "There's your twenty thousand," she said, hurriedly picking up the Key she had originally wanted, and rushed out of the door.

The man chuckled as he took the money and placed another Canis Minor Key within the case, returning it to the shelf, "Well, that girl certainly has some amazing luck, running into a guy like that and getting a free Gate Key." He said, smiling as he returned to his spot behind the counter.

As the young man continued down the street from the shop, intent on finding out where he would go next, he heard someone running up behind him.

"Hey, wait up!" It was the girl from the shop. He stopped to let her catch up to him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked as she caught up to him.

The girl shook her head, smiling, "No, I just thought I should thank you," she said, holding up the Key he had given her, "This was really sweet of you."

He shook his head, "It's fine, really," he said, scratching the back of his head almost bashfully, "Besides, I did say that I already had a Key for those spirits, and I like the one I'm contracted with well enough, even though he's pretty grumpy most of the time."

The girl giggled, the sound almost like the tinkling of bells to his ears, "I think I should introduce myself," she said, placing her hand on her chest, drawing his eyes down from her face, "I'm Lucy...Lucy Heartfillia," She smiled, "I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage, too."

The blond man smiled, "I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto," he said, giving her a small bow, "Nice to meet you, Lucy."

"So what are your plans, now, Naruto?" She asked as the pair of them started down the street again, "You said you don't know how you got to Hargeon, right?"

Naruto nodded, "That's right, I used to live on an island that was way far off from Fiore, but I've got no idea how I got to the mainland," he said, frowning, crossing his arms in thought, "The last thing I really remember was falling asleep under a tree while I heard my grandmother singing, and then waking up on the beach."

"Do you know where your island is?" Lucy asked, finding his story predicament strange, but the blond shook his head, "You don't?"

"As far as I remember, I was born and raised on that island, and I was never allowed to leave," Naruto frowned, thinking back on it, "My granny taught me everything I know about magic, and even convinced a few Celestial Spirits to create Keys to form a bond with me."

"Create Keys?" Lucy looked surprised, "Wait, your grandmother convinced Celestial Spirits to form their own Keys? I know most of the Zodiac Keys have a constellations of their own, but all I know are the Silver and Golden Keys."

Naruto smiled at her, and produced a ring of Keys from his cloak, "These are Platinum Keys. Granny knew some of the Celestial Spirits that didn't have their own Keys and convinced them to let the Celestial Spirit King create Gate Keys for them." He said, holding them out for her to see as the wonder in her eyes grew while taking in the Keys. "I have a contract with Lupus, the Wolf, and Aquila, the Thunderbird. I also have some Silver Keys, Pegasus, Vulpecula, and Hercules."

Lucy had little stars in her eyes, "Wow, I'd love to have even one of these spirits!" She said, but spotted a sixth Key he hadn't spoken of, "Hey, what about this one?"

"That's Draco," Naruto frowned, "He doesn't like me very much, and refuses to form a contract with me. But Granny told me to hold onto the Key anyway, and hoped that he'd partner with someone someday."

She would have asked more about that particular Key, but the sound of excited screaming caught both blondes' attention. Several young women ran by them, and seemed to be crowding around someone further down the street. Lucy looked at the group curiously. "Wonder what that's all about?"

Naruto shrugged, and started toward the crowd, "Let's check it out." Lucy nodded and followed after him.

As they walked, another pair of girls ran by them, "A really famous wizard is in town!"

"It's Salamander!" The pair of them squealed.

Lucy, upon hearing the name, clapped her hands together in joy, "Salamander?!" She grinned, "You mean the wizard that uses fire magic that you can't buy in stores...He's in town?!" She rushed forward.

Naruto looked after her retreating figure, and, gaining an unsettling feeling in his gut, chased after her.

Meanwhile, Lucy had squeezed her way through the crowd of excited girls, and found herself looking at the object of their attention. He was a tall man, slightly good looking with blue hair, and a tattoo above his right eye. He gave a smile and a small wave to his admirers. Suddenly, Lucy's heart started beating rapidly in her chest, ' _Wha...what is this...why is my heart beating so fast all of the sudden?!_ ' He then turned in her directions, and her heart fluttered, little hearts appearing in her eyes.

She started to step forward...

...and felt a strong hand clamp down on her shoulder, just as someone barged their way through the crowd on the other side of the street. She looked up behind her and found Naruto standing there with a dark look on his face as he glared at the man standing in the center of the mob. He was now looking down at a boy around her age, with pink hair and a red sleeveless jacket.

"It's ring magic," Naruto muttered as he watched as something the newcomer had said upset the mob of girls into stomping on him. "He's using it to attract all of these girls."

As the two blondes watched in disgust, 'Salamander' smiled as the pink-haired boy was thrown from the group, "I appreciate your enthusiastic welcome," he said, snapping his fingers, producing a purple flame that lifted him from the ground. "But I have a few errands to run." He smiled down at the squealing girls, "I'm having a lovely party on my private ship tonight, and you're all invited to come!" He said as he flew off into the distance."

Naruto and Lucy went up to the boy who now had a little blue cat standing next to him as he watched the man leave, "What's up with that guy?"

"Nothing good," Naruto commented, causing the boy to look up at him, "You alright?"

"Yeah, that was nothing," he said, picking himself up from the streets and dusting himself off.

"He's definitely disgusting," Lucy commented, watching his purple flames disappear.

=x=

Naruto and Lucy, both of whom were enjoying a nice lunch, watched in amazement as Natsu, the pink-haired boy from before, and his cat, Happy, wolfed down their food like starving men, or cats in Happy's case.

"You're a nice person all around aren't you?" Naruto asked, though he had been no slouch about eating, given that there were several dishes on his side of the table, but he had been a little more reserved in his dining habits than the other boy.

Lucy giggled, attempting to ignore the feeding frenzy in front of them, "It's the least I could do for you two," she smiled, more at the blond than at the other boy, "You gave me that Key, and both of you helped break that spell that Salamander guy put me under." She said, drawing Natu's attention, "That magic he was using was called Charm, and it's used to attract peoples' hearts to the caster, which was also made illegal a long time ago."

Naruto nodded, "I know that most charm magic like that is frowned on, but this is the first time I've ever seen anyone use it," Naruto frowned, "I gotta say, using magic like that makes me sick."

"I have to wonder if that guy was a part of a Magic Guild," Lucy said in thought, making Naruto look at her in confusion. "What? You don't know what a Guild is?"

"Raised on an island, remember?" Naruto pointed out.

Lucy blushed slightly, "Sorry, I forgot," she admitted, "A Guild is an association of wizards, and it mediates jobs and information for wizards." She explained, smiling, "You aren't considered a full-fledged wizard until you've joined one, either."

Naruto frowned, "So that means I'm not considered a real wizard until I join a Guild?"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, I've wanted join a Guild ever since I learned how to use magic," she said, gaining a large smile, "But there are so many Guilds all over the world, and they're really hard to get into, because they're that popular!"

"You sure do talk a lot," Happy said whilst munching on a fish.

' _Now that's rude,_ ' the two blonde's thought, but Lucy relented anyway, "Sorry about that, you guys probably don't know much about Guilds, huh?" She said, looking between the two, "Speaking of which, didn't you guys say you were looking for someone?"

Happy smiled and raised his little paw, "Aye, it's Igneel!"

Natsu sat back with a mouth full of food, swallowing it down before he sighed out, "I heard that a guy called Salamander was coming to this town, so I thought it might have been him, but it was the wrong person," he said, grabbing a loaf of bread before biting off a chunk.

"That Salamander didn't even look like a Salamander," Happy said, rubbing his tummy.

"Yeah, I totally believed it was him, too," Natsu said, biting off another chunk of bread.

Lucy and Naruto looked at each other in confusion, "How could a guy named 'Salamander' could look like a salamander?" Naruto shrugged. He'd never heard of such a thing.

Natsu looked at the pair, "Hmm? Oh, Igneel's not a human," the pink-haired boy said, "he's a real dragon."

Lucy looked at them in pure shock. "There's no way something like a dragon would be in this town!" She roared, making Natsu and happy look at her in shock as well, "Oh, come on, don't tell me that you only just noticed that!"

Naruto gave a small laugh, "I haven't seen a dragon for seven years," the blond said, making the others look at him as he crossed his arms in thought, "There used to be one sleeping on our island, though he'd wake up every so often when he got hungry, but then when I turned ten, he disappeared."

"Was he a fire dragon named Igneel?!" Natsu asked frantically, "And did he say where he was going?!"

Naruto shook his head, pulling out his Gate Keys once more, "It was actually Draco, the Celestial Dragon." He said, holding up the Key, "Before Granny asked him to make a Key for me, he was always so grumpy. Even for a Dragon. He absolutely hated humans, too, and always said we were too greedy for our own good."

Lucy hummed in thought, "So that's why he won't form a contract with you?"

"Pretty much," Naruto said, placing the Keys back into his cloak.

Before long, Lucy placed the payment for their meal on the table, "Well, I think I should get going," she said, rising from the table, "But you guys go ahead and take your time. I owe you guys a lot for helping me."

Naruto rose as well, "Do you mind if I tag along?" He asked, "I don't know all that much about Fiore, so I could use your help in finding my way around."

Lucy beamed at him, "Yeah, that'd be great," she said, "I was actually heading to Magnolia to join - HRK!" Lucy flinched at the sight behind them, and when Naruto turned to see what the problem was, he did as well. Both Natsu and Happy were on the floor and bowing their heads.

"THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL!" Natsu said loudly.

"THANK YOU!" Happy cried.

"Cut it out, you're embarrassing me!" Lucy yelled frantically.

Naruto looked at her with a small sweat drop on his head, "W-Well, at least they're polite?"

"Tell me that when they have better table manners," Lucy pointed out, backing toward the door.

=x=

A short time later found the blonde duo sitting comfortably in a small park in the center of town. Naruto had removed the strange cloak from his shoulders and draped it across the back of the bench as Lucy thumbed through a magazine of some sort. She giggled, "Fairy Tail caused trouble again?!" She said laughingly, "What did they do this time?"

Naruto looked at her, "Is that the name of a wizarding Guild?"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, it's actually the one I've been wanting to join for a while," she said, continuing to read, "Now let's see...Ah, they destroyed the Devon Thief family, but they also destroyed several houses belonging to the townspeople!" She said, starting to laugh in earnest, and was joined by Naruto as he saw the ridiculousness of the situation.

"That's going too far," Naruto laughed, "Really, if wizards are supposed to help people, then how do they get away with causing so much trouble?"

Lucy wiped a stray tear from her eye, "I have no idea, Naruto, but whatever it is, they are the number one Guild in Fiore, and probably the most fun out of all of them. I'd so love to join up with them." She gushed, holding the magazine to her bosom, "I bet they offer some really high-paying jobs that would make me a famous wizard really fast! And then there's the photo shoots for Sorcerer Weekly!" She said, showing him a picture in the magazine that made him blush. It was a beautiful white-haired girl in a bikini.

' _Is that even considered clothing?_ ' Naruto wondered, though he wasn't going to complain about seeing so much exposed female flesh, photo or not. "Uh, who's the girl?"

Lucy giggled when she saw the blush on Naruto's face, "She's Mirajane, Fairy Tail's drawing card," she said, feeling a small spike of jealously in her chest, "I can see why you'd be interested in her, though. She's so beautiful, and I hear she's a really powerful wizard, or she used to be."

"She's pretty, yeah, but..."

Lucy looked at him, "But what?"

Naruto blushed a little brighter, scratching the back of his head, "I...like brown eyes better..."

Now it was Lucy's turn to blush as his words sank in. ' _He...he likes brown eyes...like mine?_ ' She thought, feeling somewhat giddy. Then she shook her head, ' _Oh come on, I just met the guy! No way am I gonna start...well, he is kind of handsome, and the whiskers are really cute...Whoa, no, no, no, no! If I start hitting on him now, he'll think I'm some kind of sl -_ '

"So," Naruto said, trying to break the silence, "If you're gonna join Fairy Tail...how do we do it?"

' _We?_ ' Lucy thought in excitement. "Uh, I'm not really sure, honestly. I don't know that much about how to join a Guild," she said thoughtfully, "We'd probably have to learn some really powerful, or rare magic, and they'd probably ask for an interview of some kind."

A rustling in the bushes beside them startled them as the same blue-haired wizard from before popped out of them, "I see, so you both want to join Fairy Tail, huh?"

"You?!" Naruto growled, standing with a magic circle appearing in his hand.

"Salamander!"

Salamander crawled out of the bushes and stood up, ignoring Naruto for the most part, although he kept his eyes on the spell that he was ready to cast, "I've been looking all over for you," he said, addressing Lucy, "Truth be told, I really wanted to invite you to my party tonight."

=x=

Naruto growled as he sat on the docks of Hargeon port, his legs crossed beneath him, "I can't believe that bastard, ignoring me like that," he grumbled, tapping his fingers on his arm, "And then he has the gall to drag Lucy into that stupid party, saying he could get her into Fairy Tail!" He sneered, grinding his teeth angrily, "If I didn't think Lucy could wipe the floor with that creep, I'd've clobbered him!"

He frowned as he watched the ship sailing further and further away. ' _Just how far is he taking them?_ ' He wondered, dread growing stronger in his chest, "What if...Ah, jeez!" He lept to his feet, "No way is that guy who he says he is!" He growled and reached for his Gate Keys.

"Heeeey~!" Naruto stopped as he prepared so summon one of his spirits and looked up in time to see Natsu passing overhead with Happy attached to his back, and... _flying_?

"O...kay, flying, talking cats...the mainlands sure are full of surprises..."

=x=

The glass shattered as it struck the floor. Lucy stood angrily as she glared at the blue-haired wizard, "Just what the hell are you planning, Salamander," she asked heatedly, "There's a sleeping drug in the wine!"

The man hung his head, chuckling, "Oh, and how did you figure it out?"

"Because I could smell it!" Lucy shouted angrily, "Don't misunderstand, I do want to join Fairy Tail, but that doesn't mean I'll let you have your way with me just to join - "

Salamander began to chuckle, "Well, now, that's just too bad, isn't it?" He gave a snap of his fingers, "If you'd just gone to sleep, then you wouldn't have had to get hurt."

The curtains behind her opened up, revealing several armed men, "What the -?!" She yelped as she was taken by the arms, "What's going on!"

One of the men chuckled as he licked his lips, "Oh, nice job, boss man!"

"We haven't had such a pretty one in a long time," said another one, leering down at her.

Lucy struggled to get free, "Who are you?!" She demanded, only to be grabbed by her chin roughly as Salamander made her look at him.

"Welcome to our slave ship," he sneered, and slapped her across the face, "Now I'll have to ask you to keep quiet until we get to Bosco, little lady." He reached down toward her hip, and ripped her Gate Keys away from her, and tossed them out the window.

Lucy was panicking by now as the men around her started laughing. ' _You're kidding me...no...I didn't come all this way to get sold into slavery like this!_ ' She thought frantically as she watched her precious Gate Keys fall out of sight. Salamander then went tot he fire place, and took out a branding iron from the flames. How had she not noticed it before?

"Now, let's just put this lovely little mark on you," he said, advancing on her, "It'll hurt for a moment or two, so please just bear with it...hm, but where oh where should it go?" He asked in aslight singsong voice, "Oh boys, where should the lovely lady have her mark?"

On cue, the two men holding her grasped her dress and ripped it from her shoulders. Lucy screamed shrilly as she struggled against their holds in an attempt to cover herself. "Wow, boss, look at her!" One of them laughed, "I know we need her pure, but I might have to sample the goods!"

Salamander chuckled, "Only after I've had her first," he sneered as he came ever closer with the glowing hot brand, hovering over Lucy's bear breasts, "I'll have so much fun training this one personally."

"You...you're the worst kind of wizard!" Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs. The heat of the branding iron was about to sear the skin of her left breast when a sound came from above them like the keening of a diving falcon, and the roof crashed in. Lucy was thrown from their grip, and fell to the floor. She looked up and cried out in relief and joy as she saw two familiar figures. Both of them looked furious, but none more so than the blond man standing with his arms crossed over his chest, and his cloak fluttering around him.

Natsu and Naruto both snarled upon seeing her in such a state of undress. In a flash of white, Naruto was right beside her, his cloak in hand as he wrapped it around her, and picked her up in his arms, "I've got you, Lucy."

She flung her arms around his neck, "You came for me!" She sobbed against his shoulder.

Naruto gave the girl a smile, and nodded, "Yeah, of course I did," the young man said.

"Hey," Natsu snarled, looking at Salamander, "You said you were from Fairy Tail, right?"

Salamander frowned, "You're that brat from before," he said, recognizing the boy, "So what if I did? What's it to you if I'm from Fairy Tail or not?"

Naruto growled, and set Lucy back on her feet, "Here," he said, holding out her Keys, "I saw them falling from the window and scooped them up for you." Lucy accepted them gratefully as she stepped away from the Celestial Spirit wizard while he reached for his own, "Open, Gate of the Winged Horse; Pegasus!" He called out, driving his key into the floor. There was the sound of a doorbell, and a silvery magic circle appeared as a massive set of wings spread from it. Rising with the wings came a large, beautiful white horse.

"You summoned me, Master?" Pegasus asked, turning his head toward the two blondes.

Naruto nodded and picked Lucy back up, setting her on his back, "I need you to take Lucy back to the port." He ordered, "My friend and I have something to take care of."

"As you wish," Pegasus nodded his head and looked back at the girl on his back, "Please, hold onto me tightly, young miss."

"But - " she looked at her fellow blond in concern, "What about you two?"

Naruto gave a feral smirk as he cracked his knuckles, "Trust me, we'll be fine."

Pegasus took flight and arrowed right out the hole created by Naruto and Natsu's landing. Naruto slammed his fists together, "Natsu, how's that spell I cast on you working?"

Natsu grinned, "I'm feelin' fine, and ready to roast these pricks," he snarled, "Let's go wild, Naruto!"

Launching themselves at the slavers, Naruto and Natsu slammed into them with all the force of a speeding train. Salamander fled from the room, and Naruto would have gone after him, but the ship suddenly lurched, and tumbled. "What the hell -?!"

Meanwhile, outside...

"Aquarius, be careful, please!" Lucy cried out as she and Pegasus soared over the ocean, "My friends are on that ship!"

"Oh, who cares?!" The water spirit snarled, "You interrupted a date with my incredibly hot boyfriend, and this is what you get!"

Pegasus snorted, "You should probably give up," he said to the girl on his back, "She's always been vicious, even to her contractors."

"Lucy has some troublesome spirits," Happy commented from beside the winged horse as they watched the ship crash into the port.

"There, the ship's back in port," Aquarius said, "Now I don't want to hear from you again for a while, I have a date with my boyfriend, and I don't want to be interrupted again!"

Below them, the ship exploded with flames as the imprisoned women ran out in fear. "Great, everyone's safe," Lucy sighed in relief, "But I don't see Natsu or Naruto anywhere?"

"No need to worry about Natsu," Happy said, landing beside her, "I probably should have said this earlier, but he's a wizard, too."

"Really?" Lucy asked in surprise, just as the flames on the ship were sucked down back into the ship, revealing Natsu, his cheeks and stomach ballooned out. "What the -?!"

"Ah," Pegasus said in understanding as he glided down toward the beach, "Natsu is a Dragonslayer wizard, isn't he?"

"Yup," Happy said, "He has dragon lungs to breath fire, dragon scale to protect him from fire, and dragon claws to attack with fire."

Lucy was only half listening as she scanned the ship for the other boy that had rescued her. He appeared out of the ship's hull, white magical energy spiraling around him.

"Hey, Natsu," he called up, "Did you find him?"

"Nope, that Bora guy must still be in the ship," Natsu called back down, and grinned devilishly, "I'll just torch the whole thing since he dirtied my Guild's name!"

"Good plan," Naruto commented, "But let me do it." Natsu grinned and hopped down from the ship and landed beside him. Naruto clapped his hands together as a white magical array appeared, " _Under the shining name of the holy one, may the light of judgement fall as rain upon those impure souls that crawl in the world._ " The white circle appeared beneath the ship just as the blue-haired wizard that had named himself as Salamander scrambled out, " _Rest in peace, you who are burdened by sins! Judgement!_ " A multi-colored three leveled circled appeared above the ship as light cascaded down around it, and a brilliant beam of light crashed into the ship, obliterating it.

Lucy breathed out, "Beautiful," as the spell was cast, "What kind of magic was tha- Kyah!" She and the two animals were buffeted by the wind kicked up by the explosion. Lucy tried to keep the cloak around herself to preserve her modesty, or what was left of if, considering both boys had seen her nearly completely naked.

Natsu grinned as he picked up the falsely named wizard, "Let me tell ya something," he growled, cocking back his fist, "Wizards from Fairy Tail," he slammed him in the jaw, and sent him flying, "Are nothing like you, ya bastard!"

Naruto grinned slightly as he watched the wizard's flight path, "Nice shot." He said, and spotted Lucy standing by the water, "Lucy!"

The girl smiled as he came toward her, and slowly went to meet him. When he reached her, she hugged him around the neck once again, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you...thank you so much, Naruto!" She said, the severity of the situation finally settling on her shoulders, "If you hadn't come for me, they would've- "

"Hey," he said, husing her, "don't think about that for now. It's over now."

Lucy nodded against his chest, "Still, if wizards from Fairy Tail are like that guy, then - "

"That bastard wasn't from Fairy Tail," Natsu frowned as he came up to them, his coak slung over his shoulder, and revealed the red Guild mark on his right shoulder, the emblem of Fairy Tail, "Because I've never seen him before in my life!"

Lucy looked at the boy in surprise, "You mean you're a Fairy Tail wizard?!"

"He's the real Salamander," Happy chirped from Pegasus' back. "We should probably get outta here before the army shows up. They won't like all the damage you guys caused."

Naruto and Natsu looked back at the port, the blond scratching his cheek bashfully, "Yeah...I think we kinda went overboard, huh?"

Lucy giggled slightly as she took in the destroyed ships and the ruined docks, "Maybe just a little...?"

Natsu grinned, "Well, you guys wanted to join Fairy Tail, right?" He asked, "Why don't you come with us?"

* * *

 _ **Naruto's Gate Keys**_

 _ **Platinum Keys:(My own creation)**_

 _ **Gate of the Dragon - Draco: Effects(?)**_

 _ **Gate of the Beast- Lupus: Summons a Wolf Spirit for used mainly for tracking, but can be called upon in human form to fight.**_

 _ **Gate of the Thunderbird - Aquila: Summons a winged being with golden wings and power over lightning.**_

 _ **Silver Keys:**_

 _ **Gate of the Winged Horse - Pegasus: A Winged Horse summoned for transport through the skies only. Has no combat value at all.**_

 _ **Gate of the Little Fox - Vulpecula: A Key that summons a small Fox spirit that is good at spying on people and capable of creating illusions to fool others.**_

 _ **Gate of the Strong Man - Hercules: Grants immense strength to the summoner.**_

 _ **If you did like the chapter, then please leave a review, but if you didn't don't worry about it, because this follows the original story pretty damned close.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**2: The Master Appears!**_

 _ **Naruto's First Job?**_

* * *

Lucy woke up feeling slightly sore from the previous day of being tossed around and running from the Fiore military. Thankfully for them, they had found a town between Magnolia and Hargeon to spend the night in. She opened her eyes and found her savior sleeping beside her. There had only been one room available, but oddly enough, she found she trusted both Natsu and Naruto more than she felt she should.

Natsu and Happy, she saw, were still conked out on the couch, the Dragon Slayer snoring loudly as the talking cat snoozed away on his head. Naruto himself was only half on the bed she occupied. He was on his knees, and sleeping with only his upper torso on the bed. She gave him a small smile, and decided to let him sleep a little more, though she scooted a little closer to him and clasped one of his hands in hers.

' _Maybe,_ ' she thought as she began to drift back to sleep, ' _Maybe looking for Fairy Tail took me into a fairy tale._' The thought made her smile even more. ' _My prince came for me, and with a flying white horse of all things._ ' Her eyes closed, feeling the warmth of his hand spreading through her own, and moving throughout her chest and body as she slept, wrapped in his cloak.

=Magnolia=

Several hours later that day after four the wizarding quartet in a larger town than Hargeon. Like the fishing village, Magnolia was a bustling town filled with more people than Naruto knew existed. Every street they passed by seemed to be filled with different merchants and magic shops. Natsu and Happy seemed eager to get to their destination while he and Lucy followed after the pair as quick as they could.

And soon, they came to a large building that sounded like a rowdy place, the words "Fairy Tail" set in yellow letters above the door.

"Wow," Lucy sighed in wonder, looking up at the Guild Hall, "It's so huge!"

Naruto nodded from his spot beside her, "It's bigger than my cabin back home," he said with as much wonder in his voice as she.

Natsu and Happy grinned and turned to them, "Welcome to Fairy Tail," Happy chirped as Natsu kicked the door in.

The inside of the Guild Hall was bustling with as much activity as the surrounding town. The hall was more like a bar than anything else as there were men and women alike sitting at tables either eating or drinking the day away as laughter and comradery was all around them.

"Hey, Mirajane, three beers over here, please!" One of the Guild members called out.

A girl in a red satin with pink trim and bows smiled at the man, "Coming right up," she said, as she came out from behind the bar with the order, passing by a man with a pompadour hair style, blowing smoke hearts at her.

"Hey, Mira, let's go on a date soon, okay?" The man said.

"Ah, don't be sneaky!" Said the man sitting next to him.

Mirajane only sighed and snapped her fingers, "You have a wife," she said, before transforming into a very large lady, "Don't you, Wakaba?" She asked, smiling.

Wakaba freaked, stumbling out of his chair, "Dwah! Don't transform into my wife, you know I hate it when ya do that!" He yelled, gaining laughter from the rest of the Guild.

Mirajane was letting her transformation magic drop just as the door was kicked open, revealing Natsu, and Happy. "WE'RE HOME!" Natsu roared manically.

"Home~!" Echoed Happy.

"Ah, Natsu, Happy," Mirajane smiled at the pair, "Welcome back!"

One of the Guild members waved to the duo, "You overdid it again, didn't ya?" He asked, laughing, just as Natsu lept at him, "I read all about the Hargeon incident in the newspa - GAH!" Natsu's foot slammed into his face as he sent the man crashing through a table.

"You bastard!" Natsu roared angrily, "That info about Salamander was bogus!"

Mirajance chuckled, "My...Now that Natsu's back, the Guild might be torn apart soon."

Wakaba gaped as Natsu's attack started a brawl as the man he kicked was sent bowling into another table, causing the occupant to toss him across the room. "It's already being torn apart!"

Naruto just gaped at the whole scene in front of him while Lucy just smiled, "Wow, so this is Fairy Tail," she said, stepping into the Guild, "I really made it!"

Naruto ducked as a beer mug sailed over his head, and stopped another from hitting Lucy in the back of the head, "This is way more wild then I thought it'd be," he said, watching as Natsu threw someone into a table, and proceeded to through another table into someone else.

As Lucy advanced under the blond's watchful gaze another wizard popped up, "Did someone say that Natsu's back?!" A man wearing nothing but boxer shorts yelled, spotting the Dragon Slayer across the room with someone in a headlock. "Hey, let's settle our fight from the last time, ya punk!"

Beside them, a young woman wearing a bikini top turned to the man, taking in his state of undress, "Grey...have you been walking around the Guild like that?"

Grey looked down at himself, and paled, "Ah, man, what happened to my clothes!?"

Naruto frowned as he came up next to Lucy, "Are you sure this is the right place?" He asked as the woman that had spoken to the streaker picked up a barrel of alcohol and drank from it directly. Even Lucy had to gawk at that.

"HEY! Natsu, fight me!" Grey yelled.

"Not until you put some clothes on!" Natsu yelled back.

Lucy cringed as a barrel came flying out of nowhere and struck Grey in the body. "Yeah...I'm pretty sure this is the right place...I think?"

A shadow passed over the two of them as a large brute of a man observed the chaos, "What a racket." He growled, Yapping in the middle of the day...you're not a bunch of kids you know?" He growled, and then yelled out, "So fight with your fists to show your manliness!"

Naruto sweat dropped, "So it all comes down to fighting after all, huh?" He asked just as Natsu and Grey sent the man flying, "Oh, man, he got owned!" He said, his jaw dropping.

Lucy nearly laughed as she spotted another person aside from Mirajane she recognized. "Ah, that's Loki, the top ranked 'Mage you want as your boyfriend'!"

Naruto hit the floor, "There's a ranking?" He said, quickly hopping back to his feet, looking at his fellow blonde, "Where do I rank?"

Lucy giggled, "You haven't been around long enough to get an article in Sorcerer Weekly," she said, then paled, "Look - "

 **CLONG**

"- out...Oh, my gosh, are you okay, Naruto?" She asked as Naruto peeled a metal pan from his head.

Naruto's left eye was twitching violently, "Yeah, I'm all good, Lucy...'scuse me for a minute." He turned about with the pan in his hands, and roared, "ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE OF YOU THREW THAT!?"

"Yo, Naruto, come and join the fun!" Natsu yelled, holding up Grey's boxers.

"Gimme back my boxers, ya jerk!"

Naruto ignored it and hopped up on a table, then jumped into the fray, "Y'all asked for it!" He yelled and joined in the brawl.

Lucy groaned and sank to the floor. "What's with this place?" She said as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, "None of them are normal..."

"Oh, are you a newcomer?" A soft voice said from above her.

She looked up to see the white-haired girl from her favorite magazine, "M-Mirajane!" She squealed, "The real one! Ugh..." she stopped herself when she saw Naruto punch someone square in the nose, and receive a hard knock in the chin, "Naruto!" She squeaked, turning to Mirajane, "Shouldn't we stop this?"

Mirajane only giggled, "This happens all the time," she said, before a bottle came whizzing out of nowhere and knocked her in the head, toppling her over, "Oh, dear..."

"AH! Miss Mirajane!" Lucy yelped, dropping beside her, but Mirajane just popped right back up despite the blood on her head.

"Besides, it's kind of fun like this, isn't it?" She asked pleasantly.

"It's crazy!" Lucy yelled just as a naked Grey smashed into a table beside them.

He looked at her while the girl covered her eyes, "Excuse me, Miss, but could I borrow your underwear?"

"AS IF!" Lucy yelled, about to deck the guy before a frying pan slammed into his face, courtesy of Naruto.

"Hands off Lucy, ya frosty pervert!" Naruto roared, and was decked by the big guy from before.

"Real men fight with their fists, Newbie!" He yelled before Natsu came in and round house kicked him in the jaw.

"I thought I told you to butt out!" The pinkette roared.

The woman that had been drinking from a barrel groaned, "I can't even enjoy a drink with all of this noise," she said, pulling out a card from her pocket, "Alright, you guys, it's time to end this!" She charged the card with magic, prompting the others to do the same.

Lucy yelped and went to Naruto as the blond lay sprawled out from where he'd landed. "They're really gonna use magic in here!?"

Mirajane finally looked slightly worried, "This is getting a little too intense for my liking."

"Ya think!?" Lucy yelled, trying to rouse Naruto, "Oh, come on, Naruto, don't cop out on me now!"

"B-b-b-buttermilk...biscuits...hrk..." he mumbled, little stars dancing in his eyes.

"This is no time to think about food!" Lucy wailed, shaking him wildly as all of the magic was about to be unleashed. But just before Lucy thought that all hell was about to break loose, a gigantic foot slammed into the floor.

" **That is enough!** " Roared a loud voice, and Lucy found herself looking up at the shadowy figure of a giant, " **Cut it out, you fools!** "

Lucy gaped as she clung to the blond boy, "H-he's humongous!" She trembled as everyone stopped what they were doing, and started cleaning up and going back to their food and drinks. Naruto finally came awake to find Lucy clinging to him, and frowned.

"Hey, Lucy, what happened to..." he looked up at the giant, and sweated slightly, "Oh...big trouble..."

The only one that hadn't gone about their business was Natsu, who was grinning like mad. "Dahahaha, oh man, what a bunch'a wimps!" He laughed, "Looks like I win this -GAH!"

The giant stepped on him, " **That's enough out of you, Natsu,** " the giant commented, and looked down at Mirajane, " **Sorry I didn't stop them sooner, Mira.** "

Mirajane just smiled and shook her head, "It's no problem, Master, I just didn't know you were still here."

"Master?!" Naruto and Lucy said in surprise.

This drew the giants attention, " **Well, well, what do we have here?** " He said, looking them over, " **Some new recruits?** "

The two blondes nodded mutely, and the monster began to shrink. Soon, much to their amazement, a man not much bigger than Happy was standing in front of them, "Nice to meet the both of you!"

"He's..." Naruto said, his jaw slack.

"T-Tiny!" Lucy finished for him.

The tiny old man jumped up onto the upper railing, slamming into it by mistake before he pulled himself up with slight embarrassment. He looked down at the Guild members with a stern gaze, and produced a stack of papers from his coat, "You idiots have done it again!" He yelled, "Look at all these complaints I've gotten from the Magic Council!"

"Council?" Naruto asked, looking at Lucy.

"It's an organization that manages the Magical Guilds," she explained as the Guild Master started to speak.

"First up is you Gray!" He said, addressing the young man that now had his boxers back, thank goodness.

"What did I do? Gray asked.

The short old man harumphed, "Well, for starters, good job on sweeping out that smuggling organization," he said, and the boy smiled at the praise, "But you walked around town naked afterward, and ran away after you stole some underwear that had been left out to dry!"

Gray scratched his cheek in embarrassment, "Well, it would've been worse if I was still naked, right?"

The big man that had clobbered Naruto gave the younger teen a look, "Then you shouldn't have been naked in the first place."

"Elfman!" The Master roared at the man, "You had a mission to escort a VIP but you assaulted him during the mission!"

Elfman looked embarrassed as well, "He said men are all about education, so..."

But the Master wasn't done. "Cana Alberona; drinking fifteen large barrels of premium alcohol, and then charging it to the council!" He said to the girl in the bikini top.

"Tch, they found out?" She grumbled.

"Loki," he looked down at the orange-haired heartthrob, "Flirting with council member elder Reiji's granddaughter," he said, shaking his head in disappointment, "A certain talent agency charged us with damage compensation, too."

"Oops?"

"That's all you've got to say?!" The man roared, before looking down to where Natsu still lay, "And you, Natsu," He hung his head lowly, "You successfully destroyed the Devon Theif Family, but you also destroyed seven other houses belonging to innocent townsfolk, and leveled a historical clock tower in Tully village. You burned down a church in Freesia, damaging parts of Lupus castle. Nazuna Ravine Observatory collapsed, and thus stopped its operations, and then you went and destroyed part of Hargeon port!"

Naruto frowned and got up from where he was sitting on the floor, "Hey, that wasn't his fault!" The blond yelled up, gaining the entire Guild's attention, "I was the one that destroyed that port, not Natsu!"

"And I was there, too!" Lucy pipped up, standing beside him, "I was kidnapped by slave traders and Natsu and Naruto came to rescue me. If it wasn't for them, me and a lot of other women would be in Bosco by now."

The master looked at them for a moment and then grinned. "Well, I see our new recruits are going to fit right in," he said, igniting the stack of papers in his hands and tossing them aside for Natsu to eat. "Listen up, my children. Forget about the fools on the Magic Council."

"Huh?" Naruto and Lucy blinked in surprise.

"The power to overcome reasoning is born from reasoning," the master said, looking at each of his Guild members, new and old, "Magic is not some miracle. When the 'spirit' flow within us, and the 'spirit' flow of nature connects they will form an embodiment for the first time." He looked down at Naruto and Lucy, "You will need a strong mentality, and a lot of concentration to do this, but pouring your soul into whatever you do is the magic." He grinned, holding out his hand, "If you keep worrying about the watchful eyes of the higher ups, then your magic will never improve, so do not fear the fools of the council." He took a deep breath, "DO WHATEVER YOU THINK IS RIGHT! THAT'S THE WAY OF FAIRY TAIL WIZARDS!"

Lucy and Naruto beamed as a great cheer rose up around the Guild hall. "Okay, maybe this place isn't all that bad," Naruto admitted, smiling at the girl beside him, "But...do they let people stay at the Guild?"

Lucy stiffened, "You know...I never thought of that." The girl frowned, tapping her finger to her chin, then looked at the boy with a tearful look, "Naruto...we don't have a place to stay!"

~FWING~

Later that evening, Naruto was looking at the job board alongside Natsu after getting his Guild mark on the back of his left shoulder. He had almost regretted his choice in where the mark went, because as soon as he took his armor off he got lots of catcalls from the ladies of Fairy Tail, not to mention Lucy had been looking at him strangely.

' _Must have been the scars,_ ' he thought nonchalantly, thinking about the two vertical marks on his shoulder blades, and noticed a job offer for a fairly large amount of money. "Huh, medical wizard needed," he muttered, taking the flyer.

Natsu looked at him, "Aw, come on, Naruto, Healing magic is pretty hard to come by, so how you gonna complete a job like that?"

Naruto frowned at him, "Natsu, the spell I used on you to cure your motion sickness was a healing spell!" He said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, "Besides, most of my magic is meant for healing others. I could even bring someone back from the border between worlds if I had to."

Natsu cocked an eyebrow at him, "But I thought you were a Celestial Wizard like Lucy?"

But the blond shook his head, "My brand of magic is Celestial magic, but it doesn't limit me to just Gate Keys, Natsu," he explained, "That's just the first tier of what I learned."

Overhearing him, Lucy came over to listen, "So, I could learn your kind of magic?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't see why not. Some of the spells are pretty simple, but others like my _Judgement_ spell take a lot of magical energy, and it's not even my most powerful spell."

Natsu nodded, "I think I get it," he said, "So your Celestial spirits are the weakest form of magic!"

' _He didn't get it at all!_ ' Naruto and Lucy frowned. "Look, Natsu," Naruto said, "My Gate Keys are what allowed me to learn the more powerful spells in my arsenal, because I learned Celestial magic. You know, the magic used by angels?"

"Wow, really?" Natsu asked, smiling, while Lucy looked shocked.

"You can learn an angel's magic?!" The girl asked.

Naruto nodded to the girl, smiling, "Yeah, if you know how to get into the Celestial Spirit World," he said, "Using your Gate Keys to do it may be taboo, but there're other ways to get there. Granny used a summoning circle to call an angel to help teach me my magic after I'd grown strong enough." He said, smiling at the blonde girl, and patting her on the head, making her blush, "When you've gotten strong enough, I'll gladly teach you how to do it, since I already know most of the spells they use."

Lucy giggled and brushed his hand away, "Hey, cut it out, you'll mess up my hair!" But Naruto kept at it until he decided to take the job. Natsu was still looking for a job when he spoke with Mirajane about the job, and was about to set off.

"This shouldn't take very long," Naruto smiled as Lucy followed him to the door, "While I'm gone, you can focus on finding a place to stay, and maybe put in a good word for me, too?"

Lucy smiled at him, "You know, since you'll eventually be teaching me, how about I find us an apartment for both of us?" She asked, a small blush on her cheeks, "I mean it'd be really convenient, and that way we could help each other out."

Naruto grinned, none the wiser to the hidden meaning of her statement, "As long as you don't mind sharing an apartment with me, then I can't wait." He said, and turned toward the door, "I'll be back in a few days, a week, tops."

"Can you find your way?" Lucy asked in concern, "I mean, you're not from the mainlands, so - "

Naruto grinned again, holding up his Gate Keys, "Pegasus knows his way around the area, and I can always use Vulpecula's Key to gather information," he said, turning to face her fully, "I'll be fine, Lu, really."

The girl nodded, and gave her a small wave, "Alright, then, just so long as your safe on the road, and hurry back, 'kay?"

"It's a promise," Naruto gave her a wave of his own and held out his Key, "Open, Gate of the Winged Horse; Pegasus!"

Lucy watched with a wide smile on her face as Naruto sprang onto Pegasus' back, and took to the skies. Naruto never got tired of flying on Pegasus, and the winged horse was more than happy to take passengers. "Where do a take you, my master?" Pegasus questioned his rider.

Naruto grinned, "Follow the horizon, Pegasus, to the city built on Lake Sinoa."

"The city of hope," the Celestial Spirit whinnied, "Luin."

Back on the ground, Lucy had finally lost sight of the boy that was quickly becoming a focal point in her life. Sighing, she turned back to the Guild, and nearly ran into Natsu as he marched out.

"Hey," she said to Happy as he fluttered by, "Where are you guys off to?"

Happy landed on her shoulder, "A friend of ours is missing, so Natsu's gonna go and find him," the little blue cat said.

Lucy smiled, "Need any help?"

=x=

Hours later, as the night began to fade into day, Pegasus touched down at the edge of a large lake dotted with several smaller islands. Naruto swung from his back, and patted his neck, "Thanks, Pegasus, I owe you for getting me here so fast."

Pegasus dipped his head, "Think nothing of it," he said tiredly, "Now, I'm afraid I must leave you, my master. Call upon me when you need to return." And with that, the Spirit disappeared.

Naruto sighed and headed for the lake, noting that he could see lights on the water. Assuming it was Luin, he searched for a bridge to take him across. He found it...but instead of a stable bridge, Naruto found an rickety, broken down plank bridge. Frowning, Naruto hurriedly crossed to the other side on the balls of his feet, treading lightly so he wouldn't fall through.

There was also a smell in the air that made his nose burn. Sweet, overpowering and rising from the water. He looked down as he ran, and saw that the water had an oily residue gliding across the surface. This made him frown. ' _Is the water toxic?_ '

A few minutes of running, Naruto touched down on the other side, expecting to find the lovely little village Pegasus had boasted about, but instead, he found ruins. It had been a decent sized little village at one time, but now he only saw that the homes, and markets were in shambles. The streets were littered with debris, and there were weeds growing all around.

"It feels so...lonely here," the blond said, frowning, trying to sense any signs of life, "Is the place deserted or something?"

"Hello?" Called an aged voice as one of the homes creaked open. It revealed an old man in tattered rags, and worn shoes. His beard and hair were in disarray, and greasy from going without bathing. Upon spotting the young blonde, the old man frowned, "Please, if you're here to torment us again, have mercy on us."

Naruto cocked his head, "Torment?" He said, taking the job flyer from his robe, "I'm not here for something like that. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a Fairy Tail wizard."

Hearing this, the old man's eyes lit up with what could only be hope, "Oh, thank god, you have no idea how long we've been trying to get help for out village!" He said, falling to his knees. Naruto rushed to him to make sure he was alright, but the man waved him off, "Please, don't worry about me, you must help our children!"

Naruto frowned, "I'm here to help everyone," the blonde growled, disliking the situation more and more, "Now please, tell me what's going on?"

The man nodded, "My name is Pietro Alverez, and I'm, well I used to be the mayor of this village," he said, frowning, "But now it's all I can do to keep what people that are left alive." He hung his head, "Two years ago, a horde of bandits moved into the area, and demanded that we leave them the town. We refused, and ever since then, they've been harassing us, and keeping us from gathering food, or even leaving to trade. And then, this last year, they poisoned our beautiful lake! All of our children are succumbing to the toxins in the water, even when we try to boil it out to keep it clean, but it only slows the process, making them suffer!"

"All of my people are starving to death." He went on, "We can't even grow our own food here because the water kills off any of the seeds we plant, and what food we do get isn't enough to sustain us." His eyes filled with tears, "And one of our young ones is nearly in the final stages of poisoning. My granddaughter, Nina!"

Naruto stood, taking the man with him, "Take me to the center of town," the blonde growled, rage evident in his voice, "Now!"

"R-right, Sir," he stammered, leading the young wizard through the village. As they walked, Naruto noticed others looking out their doors and window at him with fear and apprehension.

"Your granddaughter," Naruto said calmly, "How old is she?"

"She will be five soon," Pietro mumbled, "I can only hope that we will be able to celebrate it." He stopped suddenly, and turned to the young man, "This is the center of Luin."

Naruto smiled at the man, "I promise that you'll get to see Nina grow older," he said, and knelt to the ground, clasping his hands together. Pietro wondered what the young man was doing for a moment, but kept himself quiet. Then he noticed that there was a light, white sheen around him, and that his cloak began to flutter, even though there was no breeze. And then his hair began to change from his sun-kissed blond to a shining pure white.

" _Come forth, O illumination of purity,_ " the white light spread from his hair to the rest of his body, " _Strands of tranquility, give name to your miraculous light,_ " the light spread into the ground, and out into the water, " _Arise, O light of life,_ " A pure white magical array appeared above the village as the people began to come out to see the display of magic, " _Rain down the heavenly light! Healing Circle!_ "

Pietro yelped as the circle above the village began raining down pillars of light throughout the village, one such pillar striking him, and draining him of his fatigue, and freeing his body of the poison in his system. He looked on as he felt himself healing, watching as the rest of the village was hit by the light of the spell, enveloping all of them in the warmth that rained down from the spell.

The people weren't the only ones affected by the spell, he noticed as he saw the waters around their village returning to their naturally clear state, the oily surface burning away from the light.

With a clap of his hands, Naruto's spell ended as the spell died out with the light of dawn replacing it. He stood, and faced Pietro, dusting off his hands, "That should do it," he grinned as his hair returned to its natural blond color. "The spell should have healed all of the sick and weak while turning the waters pure again."

"Grandpa?" Before Pietro could speak, the sound of a tiny voice caught his attention. When he and Naruto looked back down the street, it was to see a tiny child with red hair, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "What was that light?"

"Oh, my," the old man stumbled forward to scoop the girl up in his arms, "My little Nina, you're all better!"

Naruto grinned at the sight, watching as others came out of their homes, stunned that the effects of the poisoned water was gone. Pietro turned to him with the little girl in his arms, "How can we ever thank you?"

Naruto frowned then, "Don't thank me, yet, the job's not over," he said, growling, "Now, why don't you tell me where these bandits are all hiding out?"

Pietro gave the boy a smile, "They stick close to the forest around the lake to keep us in check," he said, pointing to another bridge, "Their camp's just that way."

A truly feral grin spread across the blond's lips, "Well, then I guess I should be polite and go say hello, shouldn't I?" He started off toward the bridge, "I'll bring back any supplies I can find while I'm at it. It shouldn't take long."

Pietro could only smile, "Give a knock or two for me!"

As Naruto crossed the bridge, he used a little bit of the magic he had left to restore the bridge as he walked, making it stable once more. He could already smell the stink of sweat and alcohol. From the look of things as he stepped back onto land the bandits were all still asleep. "This," he said, cracking his knuckles, "Is gonna be fun."

~Oh Yeah~

Meanwhile...

" _Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!_ " Natsu roared, hammering his flame-covered fist into the giant ape, sending the Vulcan into the wall of the cave. Natsu grinned in victory as Lucy and Happy looked on in amazement.

The Vulcan stayed where it was, stuck in the wall upside down while Lucy cautiously stepped forward, "Uh, Natsu, weren't you gonna find out what this thing what it did to Mister Macao?"

Natsu frowned, and looked at the beast, "Well, crap, I got too caught up in the fight and forgot," he said, palming his forehead.

Lucy looked at the Vulcan, seeing it's eyes rolled back into its head, "Well, he's out cold, so what do we do with it now?"

"Tie it up?" Happy suggested.

"That might work." Lucy said, smiling, but then saw that Vulcan's body was starting to break down, "Hey, what the - ?!"

Steam rose from the beast as it disintegrated, "What's going on?!" Natsu roared.

The Vulcan disappeared in a puff of steam, and revealed -

"Macao?!" Natsu yelled in disbelief.

The wall crumbled away, and Macao began to fall through the wall into the harsh mountain range. "Shit!" Natsu raced forward just as the man fell and grabbed a hold of his leg while Happy grabbed onto Natsu's leg.

"I can't hold out much longer," Happy squeaked, "My wings are about to disappear!"

Lucy ran in and grabbed onto Happy's tail just as his wings left him, "H-Heavy!"

"OWWIEEE!" Happy whined for his poor tail.

"Lucy!" Natsu grinned.

Lucy was about to go over the ledge when she felt a powerful arm go around her waist. She looked up to see Taurus smiling at her despite the blood leaking from his nose, "No moo-re worries."

"Ah, Taurus!" Lucy smiled at the fateful Bull.

The Bull Spirit gave a mighty pull, and hauled all of them back into the cave. A few moments of treating the man found that he had a massive wound on his right side, and was bleeding badly. "It looks like he put up a really big fight before the Vulcan got him," Happy said, noting his battered appearance.

Lucy was treating the man's wounds with the first aid kit, but what she had wasn't enough to stop the bleeding, "These wounds are way too serious to treat with just what we have," she said to the Dragon Slayer. "It's just too deep for me to treat. He wouldn't survive long enough to get proper help."

Natsu growled, and engulfed his fist in flames, and placed it against Macao's wound. "GWAAAH!" Macao came awake with a roar, and thrashed in pain.

"Natsu, what are you doing!?" Lucy screeched.

"Help me hold him down!" Natsu snapped, looking down at the injured man,"This is all we can do right now, so just bare with it Macao!"

Lucy nodded in understanding, and held down the man's shoulders while Natsu seared the wound closed. "Come on, Macao, don't you give up," Natsu said, "Romeo's waiting for you back home!"

Natsu removed his hand and Macao laid back, breathing heavily. "Gah...shit, what a shame..." he said tiredly, "I got...nineteen of the fuckers...Ugh, the twentieth one got me from behind..."

Natsu frantically hushed him, "I understand, so don't talk anymore, or you'll open up your wounds."

Watching the pair, Lucy was stunned at the news, ' _He took on more than one of those things?_ ' She thought, remembering the tough time Natsu had been given by just one of them, ' _Why would he take on such a job by himself?!_ '

Macao looked around deliriously, "M-my son...how can I face my son after losing like this?"

Lucy smiled and reached out to place a hand over his head in a calming gesture, "He'll be proud that his papa can take on nineteen monsters by himself," she said, smiling at him, "I know my papa couldn't do that."

A few days later...

Romeo was sitting on a bench outside of the Guild hall when he spotted Natsu and Lucy carrying his father between them. The boy cried out and ran to him, hugging him around the middle sobbing and apologizing all the while.

Macao just held the boy tightly, "Sorry for worrying you, Romeo," he said, smiling at the boy.

Romeo shook his head, "It's okay...I'm a wizard's son, after all."

"Heh, next time one of those bullies tries to get to you," Macao smiled as he looked at his son, "Ask'em if their dads can take down nineteen monsters on their own."

Lucy hung back from the father and son as Natsu joined in, smiling and patting the little boy on the head. ' _I wish my papa could be like him,_ ' the girl thought sadly, looking at the Guild Hall, "I wonder if Naruto's back, yet."

No sooner had she said that than a gust of wind picked up, and the sound of hooves came to her ears. "Hey, Lucy!" Naruto's voice drifted to her ears. She turned and saw the young man dismounting from Pegasus' back, and taking a few large bags from his back as well. He grinned at her, hefting both sacks, "Guess what?"

"What?" She smiled as she moved up to him.

Naruto opened the bag, showing her tons of money inside, "I got the reward for the job, and then some!" He laughed, all those bandits had a lot of stuff the villagers offered to pay for. I tried to just give it to them, but they wouldn't take no for an answer!" He said, "We'll be able to find our own place now!"

Lucy started giggling, "You know something, Naruto?" She said, gaining the blond's attention in a confused look, "You're a real angel. "

Naruto rubbed his nose bashfully, "Well, maybe not yet."

* * *

 _ **That's chapter two, with a little deviation from Canon, but not much. No worries, we'll get the ball rolling soon!**_

 _ **Also, I need some ideas. Naruto's going to have a Holy weapon, and I'm debating whether it should be the Norse Spear, Gungnir, or the Fate/Stay version of Excalibur. Any ideas are welcome.**_

 _ **Review if you liked it!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**3: The Holy Sword**_

* * *

In the Eastern part of the Fiore Kingdom lay the town of Magnolia. With a population well above sixty thousand people, it is a merchant city that has been prosperous since the Ancient era. After you go through the church, Chaldean Cathedral, in the middle of town, you will find the only magical guild in town: Fairy Tail.

Now, between Fairy Tail, and Magnolia's market district you would find a small apartment complex. This is the place two young wizards of Fairy Tail have come to call home.

"We've definitely found a great place to live," Lucy sighed as she stretched her arms above her head while enjoyed the hot bath she was in. "I can't believe we found such a great place so quickly, and close to the shopping centers, too." She said, climbing out of the tub to towel off. "The extra storage space even let's Naruto have his own bedroom."

She stepped out of the bathroom, knowing that Naruto was out on a walk through town, and headed for her room to get dressed, "Pure white walls," she said, smiling at their little home, "The scent of wood, a cute little old-fashioned fireplace, and it even has a cooking stove!" She giggled, thinking that she'd have to learn how to cook, "But most importantly - " She rounded the corner to the living room.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted with a mouthful of chips, while Happy was munching on a sardine.

"MY HOUSE!" Lucy roared, round housing the intruder. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

Natsu popped up from the floor, "Well, 'cause Mira told us that you and Naruto got a new place..." he said, nursing his sore cheek. "What's the big deal?"

"She told you?!" Lucy said in disbelief, "That doesn't mean you can just barge in here whenever you want to!" She raged, poking Natsu in the nose, "Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'a hedge between keeps friendships green'? You lack a lot of morals, Natsu!"

Natsu frowned, "Hey, that hurts my feelings..."

"I'm the one being violated!" Lucy snarled, placing her hands on her hips, which also caused her towel to loosen. "What if I'd been naked or something?! The last thing I'd want is - "

The door slammed open, and Naruto barged in, "Lucy, I heard you screaming, and - " Lucy had turned around just as Naruto entered, and the loose towel around her fell just as Naruto came into the room.

The two blondes stared at each other for a long moment before Happy giggled, and both of them turned bright red. "DAAAH!"

"I'M SO SORRY!" Naruto rushed back out, before reappearing, "WAIT A MINUTE, NATSU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"

Natsu was too preoccupied with staring at Lucy's backside to form an answer. ' _If Gray's freaky strippin' habits are contagious, I can think of worse things._ ' The Dragon Slayer's inner pervert thought.

Lucy was close to tears, "WILL YOU GUYS GET OUT AND LEMME GET DRESSED!"

Five minutes later...

Naruto set a cup of tea in front of Natsu and Lucy respectively, trying to avoid his blonde roommate's gaze. "Jeez," the blond sighed as he poured himself a cup, "We haven't even been moved in a week, and things are already getting crazy, huh?" He said, casting a small glance to Lucy. The girl looked thoroughly embarrassed, and wouldn't meet his gaze, "Seriously, Natsu, what were you thinking just barging in here like that? We've only just moved in, and won't have any furniture until next week. I was lucky enough to get a bed that I liked since the stores are all booked up on delivery."

"We just came to visit," Natsu said, sipping his tea.

Lucy gave a huff and leaned on her hand, "We've got nothing for you to play with, so just drink your tea, and go home."

"You're so cruel," Natsu said.

"Aye," Happy commented.

Lucy glared at them, "How am I the cruel one I'm just asking you to leave after having a cup of tea, and you guys waltzed in here, dirtied up our living room, and saw me naked!?"

Natsu blushed a bit, "I didn't see anything."

"Like I'll believe that!" Lucy raged.

Natsu frowned, then brightened up, "Oh, yeah," he said, deciding to hurry up and change the subject, "Show me all of those Key Guys you have," he said, looking toward the other blond, "You, too, Naruto!"

' _Nice save,_ ' Naruto thought, hoping this would save him from Lucy's wrath for having seen a full frontal view, including a cute little mole on her -

"No!" Lucy said, "It'll consume a lot of my magical power," she said in a huff, looking offended, "And they're not 'Key Guys', they're called Celestial Spirits."

Happy looked up from his cup of milk, "How many Celestial Spirits do you two have contracts with?"

Lucy smiled, "I have six units, we count Celestial Spirits in units," she said, placing her keys on the table, "These Silver Keys are the ones you can buy in stores. I have Horologium, the clock. Crux, the Southern Cross, and Lyra, the lyre." She then placed her Golden Keys onto the table, "These Gold Keys are very rare Keys that open the gates of the ecliptic Zodiac." She said, smiling, "You've already met Taurus, the bull, and then there's Aquarius, the water bearer, and finally, I have Cancer, the giant crab."

"CRAB!" Both Happy and Natsu said excitedly, their mouths watering.

"Not that kind of crab, guys!" Naruto shouted.

Lucy frowned, "You can't eat him." She said, then realized something, "Oh, I still haven't formed a contract with Nicola, the Canis Minor, or the Vulpecula that you gave me, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, "A lot's happened," he said, shrugging, looking at their two guests, "why don't you show the guys how it's done?"

Lucy nodded, smiling, "Yeah, it's perfect timing," she said, rising, and taking the two Keys from her pocket, "And it'll show how we Celestial Wizards bond with our Spirits.

"Does it involve blood seals?" Happy asked.

Natsu, however, misheard him, "Butt Seals? That sounds painful."

Lucy's eye twitched as Naruto roared with laughter whilst thumping the table, "Why the sudden talk about butts...?" She wondered, shaking her head, "We don't need blood seals, or anything like that. Just watch, okay?" She said, smiling a little as she saw Naruto watching her.

"Who are you going to summon first?" The blond asked, getting himself under control.

Lucy smiled, holding up the first Key, "Well, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to summon Nicola first," she said, and the young man nodded. She held the Key out in front of her.

" _I am one who connects the road to the Celestial Spirit World,_ " she intoned as a golden light appeared around her, " _Thou shalt respond to the calling and pass through the Gate!_ " A silver magic circle appeared. " _Open, Gate of Canis Minor! Nicola!_ "

A white substance came from the circle, and formed. The creature that came looked to be the right species that Naruto had seen for that particular Key, and he couldn't help but smile. 'S _he's strong._ '

"Don't feel too bad," Natsu said as he looked down at the carrot-nosed dog waving at him.

"It's not a failure!" Lucy shouted.

Naruto nodded, "She's right, this is what the dogs called from the Canis Minor Key all look like, even if some are different colors," the blond said, smiling as Lucy named the little fellow "Plue".

Lucy immediately got down to working out a contract with Plue. He was a friendly little guy that only wanted Mondays off. "Okay, contract's all done!" Lucy said, pleased with her new addition. "Now, let's see about the one you gave me, Naruto." She said, taking out the second Key.

Naruto frowned, "Gotta warn ya, Lucy, some of those Spirits can be a little unpleasant."

Lucy just shook her head, "You've met Aquarius, right?"

"Urk, good point...go ahead," Naruto grinned.

Lucy again performed the summoning ritual, " _Open, Gate of the Little Fox, Vulpecula!_ " This time, there was a puff of smoke. As Naruto had expected, the Spirit wasn't what either Lucy or Natsu thought it would be. Instead of a Fox Spirit, Lucy now found herself looking at a little girl sitting on her knees in front of her. She looked normal, save for the fact that she had a big fluffy tail, and two cute little ears atop her head.

"Greetings, my master," the girl said, pleasantly, bowing, "My name is Kon. I'm very pleased to meet you!" She beamed.

Lucy was a little stunned, but got over it quickly, "Wow, you're so cute!" She said, and hugged both of her new Spirits, "It's so nice to meet both of you!"

Kon giggled happily, "Mistress," she said, wriggling free, "For my contract, you must know that I am slightly inexperienced, but I promise to do my best as a descendant of the legendary fox. I will do as you ask of me, whether it involve house work or battle."

"I thought the Vulpecula were mainly spies?" Lucy questioned, "At least that's what Naruto said."

Kon nodded her head, "It's true that we Foxes are good at stealth and infiltration, but we are also battle spirits. For example, I can turn myself invisible, but I can also control fire to some extent, and even levitate." To prove her point, she hopped off the ground, and hung in the air for a few moments with a few balls of flames circling around her until Natsu snapped one up. "AH! Don't eat my fire!"

"Not bad," Natsu gulped.

"Mu~!" Kon pouted, flattening her ears. But then they sprang up, "Pardon me, but did you say you know Master Naruot?" She asked of Lucy.

Lucy smiled and pointed at the blond teen in question, "Uh-huh, that's him right there."

"Yo!" Naruto gave a salute.

"Greetings," Kon said politely, "Lord Kurama has been waiting for you to summon him for quite a while now, Sir...he's actually quite aggravated..."

Naruto frowned, "Uh-oh, that's not good," he said, taking out his own Key, " _Open, Gate of the Little Fox, Kurama!_ " There was a flash of red as the so-called Kurama appeared.

Like Kon, he had large, red fox ears on his head, but he looked far older than little Kon, with nine tails trashing about. His arms were crossed, and his face was contorted in a fierce frown. His clawed hands were tapping his fingers against his arms impatiently. "And just what the fuck took you so long?"

"Hey, watch the language, Kurama," he said, gesturing toward Lucy, "There's a lady present."

"And I don't give two shits," Kurama snarled loudly, "You sent me after that item you wanted months ago, and when I finally find it, you're no where to be found! I couldn't even summon myself to the island to give you a proper beating!"

"Sorry," Naruto flinched, "Truth is, I don't know how I got here either. And the job I sent you on just completely slipped my mind!" He rose from his seat, "So your really found it?"

Kurama growled, "Oh, I found it alright," he raised his fist as if to give the blond something, which he did. Naruto received a hard crack in the nose that sent him slamming into the wall, forming a crater. "That was for making me tote this thing around through the Spirit World for weeks, you blond blockhead!"

Lucy, Natsu, Kon and Happy were all clinging to each other as the red-haired Fox Spirit took his frustrations out on his master. "P-p-please don't break out walls," Lucy stammered, drawing the Spirit's attention, "We just moved in and - "

"Don't provoke him, Ma'am," Kon warned, "Lord Kurama's the most vicious Fox bound to the Key!"

"He's really scary," Happy said.

Naruto peeled himself off the wall, using a small amount of magic to repair the damage. "I'm really sorry, Kurama. I got totally sidetracked with getting stuck on the mainland!"

Kurama just sighed, and snapped his fingers, "You'd better appreciate this, you runt," he said, as a golden light shimmered in his hands, and a sheathed sword appeared. "This was not easy to get. If it wasn't so much fun, I'd've hit ya harder."

Naruto smiled, and took the sword from his claws, "Kurama, you don't know how much this means to me," the blond said, "Holy Swords are nearly impossible to find in the normal ways," he said, taking the red and blue scabbard from him, "And this one...it's Caliburn!"

"It's not the only one I've found," Kurama sighed, "There's another one someone out there, but the guy's got a Zodiac Spirit crawling around his home, so I couldn't risk going in after it."

Naruto looked up at him, "Was it Excalibur?"

Kurama shook his head, "No, it was different," the Spirit said, "It had a darker vibe to it than I thought Excalibur would. Plus, it was a black blade from what I could see. Dangerous, too, way more dangerous than that thing." He pointed his claw at Caliburn. "If I had to guess, I'd say it was the Peerless blade."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lucy yelled, having had enough of being ignored. "What are you guys talking about? What's a Holy Sword?"

Kurama looked between both blondes, and sighed, "Look, brat, I'm going home." He said, "That sword drained a lot of my energy just having it near me. As for the other one, it's in a mansion belonging to some pompous prick named Everlue. You can explain everything to your girlfriend."

"She's not my - !" But his protests fell on deaf ears as Kurama disappeared.

Lucy felt a tug on her sleeve, and looked down at Kon, "I should be going, too, Mistress Lucy."

"But we haven't agreed to a contract, yet," she said, frowning.

Kon smiled at her whilst wagging her tail, "Oh, don't worry, Mistress, I'll happily come to your aid whenever or wherever you need me." She said, "And I'd consider it an honor to work with you since you have three of the Zodiac Spirits."

Lucy giggled, "Please, just call me Lucy," she said, smiling, "And I look forward to working with you, too, Kon."

The little Fox Spirit gave a short bow before disappearing.

Plue had gone as well, having high-tailed it when Kurama appeared, leaving only the four wizards left. Naruto grinned and sat back at the table, "Well, that was a nice house warming party?"

"I'll say," Natsu grinned, knocking his fists together, "Too bad I couldn't fight with that Kurama-guy, he looked strong!"

Lucy sighed, "I'd really prefer it if there weren't any fights inside the house, boys," she said as she took a seat, looking at the sword Naruto was holding, "So what's the story with these Holy Swords? And why are you so interested in finding them?"

Naruto held the sword up, "Well, for starters, Holy Swords are really powerful blades imbued with the blessings of divine beings like angels and gods." He said, "For a Celestial Wizard like me, having even one of them is like a Dragon Slayer having a pet dragon."

"That'd be so cool!" Natsu snorted.

"Anyway, having one is rare nowadays because a lot of them were destroyed a long time ago because they were capable of killing dragons, angels, and even gods," Naruto went on, "This one's fairly weak in comparison to the one I'm really looking for, pretty much a copy of the original, but it's powerful enough to get the job done."

Natsu sat back, thinking for a moment, "Say, didn't that Kurama-guy say that he'd found another sword like that?" He asked.

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, but he said it was being held by some guy named Everlue, and guarded by a Zodiac Spirit."

Natsu grinned and took out a job flyer from his vest, "Check this out. I picked this up because of the reward, but I think you'll wanna come with me on this one."

Lucy took the flyer, "Huh, Shirotsume town, that's close to here," she said, reading lower, and paused, "Naruto, this job's asking for a book from the collection of Duke Everlue!"

"What?!" Naruto reached over and read it for himself, "I can't believe it! My luck's never been this good!" He said, smiling, "And the money's good, too! Two hundred thousand!"

"Really!" Lucy grinned, "That's a hundred for each of us!"

"Right?" Natsu grinned, "And it just so happens that Everlue has a thing for pretty blonde maids." He said, grinning as Lucy's face fell, "Now, where do I know a blonde girl that'd look good in a maid outfit?"

Lucy yelped, "Whoa, no!" She said forming an X with her arms, "I am not dressing in some frilly maid outfit just to nab a book!"

"Plus, this guy's proven to be a pervert and a womanizer," Naruto said, crossing his arms, frowning at the Dragon Slayer, "I can't let Lucy go through something like that."

"But how else are we gonna get the book and your sword, Naruto?" Happy asked.

Naruto shrugged, "Easy, we'll just sneak in," he said, "Depending on what Spirit he has in his employ, Lucy wouldn't get very far before she was singled out and targeted because she's affiliated with three other Zodiac Spirits."

Lucy looked at the blond, "But we are going with them, right?"

Naruto smiled, "Of course," he grinned, "Getting a hold of another Holy Sword is totally worth it! Especially if it's the one Kurama says it is."

Natsu grinned right along with him, "Alright, then, let's get going!"

"Yeah!" Naruto, Lucy and Happy all yelled.

Meanwhile...

"Hey, Levy, are you looking for another job already?" Mirajane asked as she saw one of the teams standing by the job board.

The girl she had been addressing as a short, blue-haired girl in a yellow dress and hairband. "Yeah, but it looks like the job I wanted already got taken by someone else," she said, frowning, "Too bad, that Everlue job would've been easy money for us."

Mirajane smiled, "Oh, that one?" She said, "Natsu and Happy took it earlier, and were planning to ask Lucy and Naruto to go with them."

Levy sighed, "Too bad, I was thinking about that job the whole way back," she sighed in defeat.

"Levy, perhaps it's best that you didn't take that job," Makarov said from his usual spot from the bar, "That job...has become a little troublesome. You see, I just got in touch with the client, and the bounty has increased to ten times the original amount."

"What!?" Levy wailed, "Ah, we really missed out!"

"Why so much all of the sudden?" Mirajane asked.

Over at a table by the window sat Gray, smoking a cigarette, grinning as he heard the news, "Well, sounds like things are getting interesting."

* * *

 _ **Naruto and Lucy set out on their first job together to infiltrate the Everlue mansion, and to steal a sword of greater power than Caliburn.**_

 _ **Short chapter, but I just wanted to do the introduction for this little arc, plus the bit at the beginning was fun to write as well. Look forward to Naruto's second weapon, the Spear Sword, Durandal!**_

 _ **Leave a review if you liked the chapter!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**4: Gae Bolg**_

* * *

Natsu sat back with a small satisfied look on his face, "So this is what it's like to ride in a carriage without the motion sickness," he said, smiling as he looked at the two Celestial Spirit wizards, "Thanks a lot, Naruto, that spell of yours is awesome!"

The blond sitting across from him smiled, "It's not even a form of Angle magic," he said, looking at his female partner, "Lucy could learn it in no time if she wanted to." To this, Lucy gave a happy little blush, "It's got other uses besides curing motion sickness, though. It can also nullify weak poisons."

Lucy nodded, looking down at the sword at his side, "Do you really think you'll need that?" She asked, blinking at the Holy Sword, "Now that I think about it, this is going to be a pretty easy job once we get passed Everlue's Spirit, won't it?"

Happy looked at her, "You seem pretty interested in the job now that you don't have to dress like a maid."

Lucy huffed, "Well, of course," she clenching her fist with a smile, "it's technically my first job since I just tagged along with you guys when we went after Macao, so I want to do my best on this job."

"All we have to do is sneak in and sneak back out as fast as we can without letting them know we were there," Naruto sighed, "Using any Celestial Spirits is a no go, because Everlue's will sense them right off the bat and probably raise the alarm. Then we wouldn't know what to expect." He said, clutching Caliburn's hilt. "I'd rather not have to hurt anyone one unless we have to."

Lucy nodded, "Me, too." She said, smirking at the pinkette across from them, "But, Knowing Natsu, he'll blow our cover right away!" She giggled as Natsu roared.

"Hey, I can be stealthy if I want!" Natsu shouted.

Naruto chuckled. They had been traveling for little under a week for this job, and Naruto found himself liking the boisterous Dragon Slayer more and more. The teen had a hair-trigger temper worse than Kurama had at times, but other than that, and his sometimes out of nowhere thinking, he was a good friend. Lucy was another matter altogether.

Like him, she was eager to prove her worth on a real job, and since he was one up on her, she declared that she wouldn't fall behind. Of course, being grilled about the incident in their shared apartment before leaving hadn't been an easy time of it, even though he swore up and down that he really hadn't seen anything...well, not much of anything.

"So, Naruto, I've been wondering," Natsu said, looking at the sword he held, "What does that sword actually do? I mean it doesn't look like anything special."

Lucy looked at him, "Are you kidding? The scabbard alone is a work of art," she said.

Naruto chuckled, raising the sword up for them to see, "As far as battle, it absorbs magic energy, and releases it in waves of Light," Naruto said, "but it's not as durable as I'd like. There've been tales of it being shattered, even though it's been reforged afterwords, no one could wield it without crossing that line. Also, when someone takes hold of the sword, they stop aging physically, so - "

"They what?!" Lucy frowned, looking at him with her cheeks puffed out in a cute pout, "Naruto, how old are you?"

Naruto felt a little uncomfortable when she got close to him with a slight glare, "Er...well, I'm nineteen, so..."

"Then you were already older than me?" She said, sighing in relief, "Thank goodness."

Natsu looked at her strangely, "Why's that such a good thing?" He asked, "So what if he's older than you. Big deal. You two look about the same age to me."

"Well, I'm two years younger than he is, so I've got a little time to catch up," Lucy pipped up, smiling.

Naruto looked at her in confusion, "Okay...why's that so important?"

Lucy blushed, "Oh...well, I just...oh, the carriage is stopping!" She said hurriedly looking out the window.

Naruto and Natsu looked at each other, "You know, I may be new to the mainland and all, but...girls are kind'a weird, aren't they?" Naruto said to the Dragon Slayer.

"With ya there, Naruto," Natsu said, nodding, "Just wait 'til you meet Erza, now she's weird, _and_ scary."

=Shirotsume Town=

Naruto gave a whistle as they came up to a large mansion, "Whoa, and I thought the Guild hall was big," he said, frowning, "Man, suddenly my little cabin in the woods seems really small."

Lucy nodded, frowning, "It's a magnificent mansion, for sure," she said, thinking of one she had seen once before with a frown, and looked down at Happy, "Is the Duke Everlue's?"

The little cat shook his head, "No, this mansion belongs to the client."

"Right," she frowned, "Someone who's willing to pay two hundred thousand jewels for a book has to be rich." She said with Naruto nodding in understanding.

Natsu walked up to the door and knocked loudly. A timid voice came from the other side, "May I have your name, please?"

"We're from the Fairy Tail Gu - "

"SHH! Be quiet, please!" The voice hissed frantically. "Excuse me, but can you please enter from the back door?"

Naruto cocked his head and crossed his arms, "Well, that's a little weird." He said, following Natsu and Lucy around to the back while Happy flapped up to his shoulder.

They were greeted by a middle-aged man, and woman, and were lead into a sitting area, "I'm sorry about earlier," the man said as his wife served them tea, "But Duke Everlue has ears every where, and if he found out that it was me that sent out the job request, I'm afraid I wouldn't be around for long." He said, "My name is Kirby Melon, and this is my wife."

Natsu sat back with a large grin, "Your name sounds tasty."

"Melon!" Happy smiled from his spot on the back of the couch.

Naruto reached over and wrapped his arm around Natsu's neck, throttling him. "Natsu, be nice, he's a our client," the blond said while Lucy reprimanded Happy, and turned his attention to Kirby, "Sorry about that. My name's Naruto Uzumaki," he said, gesturing to Natsu, "This is Natsu, and the young lady is Lucy, and the little guy is Happy."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy said, smiling, thinking the man's name sounded vaguely familiar.

"Aye, Sir!"

Kirby laughed, "Don't worry about it, I actually hear that quite often."

Lucy frowned in thought as they spoke. ' _Melon...this town's name, too...I've heard them somewhere..._ ' she thought, looking from Kirby to his wife.

"I wouldn't have imagined that a wizard from the renowned Fairy Tail would accept this job." Kirby said, smiling, "Let alone three of you. I've heard tale of the famously destructive Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel." Natsu blushed bashfully before Kirby turned to the young blond man, "And I've heard tell of an amazing wizard that actually uses Healing magic. You saved an entire village from bandits that were poisoning, and starving out its people."

Naruto smiled, "It was nothing really."

"We were pretty surprised that no one took up such a good job," Natsu put in.

' _Everyone else was being cautious because this job and the reward didn't match up._ ' Lucy thought, still frowning at how strange the job was beginning to sound.

"And you, young miss," Kirby said, looking to Lucy, and back to Naruto sitting beside her.

"I-I'm a wizard, too," she said, jumping at the attention.

"Are you this young man's girlfriend, by chance?" He asked, gesturing to Naruto, who blushed profusely.

"No we're not!" Naruto and Lucy said at the same time, causing Natsu and Happy to laugh while to the two of them looked at each other, feeling foolish.

Kirby chuckled, lacing his fingers together, "I'm sorry," he said, "Well, then, let's talk about work, shall we?"

"Alright," Natsu grinned.

"Aye," Happy said, while Naruto crossed his arms, his face becoming serious while Lucy straightened.

"There's only one thing that I'm asking you to do," he said, frowning down at his hands, "The one and only copy of a book called 'Day Break' is in the possession of Duke Everlue...I want you to incinerate it."

Naruto looked a little confused, "But I would've thought you'd want us to steal it for you?" He said, reaching down to clutch his sword, a nervous gesture that Lucy was beginning to notice.

Kirby smiled at the question, "I'm basically asking you to destroy someone's possession without their permission," he said, "So it's essentially the same thing as stealing from him."

"I'm surprised, too," Lucy said, frowning, "I thought that the book was stolen from you, and you wanted us to get it back for you?"

Before Kirby could answer, however, Natsu started braying with laughter, "Incinerate it, huh?" He laughed, "How 'bout I just burn down the whole mansion!?"

"That'll be easy," Happy said.

"No!" Lucy said at once, "We'd definitely go to jail for that!"

"Or have the Rune Knights on our tails for life," Naruto frowned at his friend, "come, Natsu, think about it!"

"You tryin' to pick a fight, blondie!?" Natsu snapped.

"Oh, don't start that again!" Lucy cried. "What is that book, anyway?"

"Who cares, we're getting two hundred thousand for this!?" Natsu laughed.

Kirby looked a little surprised, "No, I'll pay you two million," he said, shocking the three wizards, and cat, "The contingency fee is now two million jewels."

...

...

...Wait for it.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Natsu roared.

"You didn't know about the increase of the fee?" Kirby asked as he watched the pink-haired teen yell.

Natsu was freaking out, "How do we even divide that?!" He asked.

"Easy," Happy said, "You get one million and I get one million, and then Naruto and Lucy get the rest!"

"That's leaves us with nothing!" Lucy yelled.

"You greedy flea-bag!" Naruto reached over and yanked his whiskers. "You and Natsu get one million, and the other million goes to me and Lucy, ya yapping fur ball!"

Kirby began to sweat in nervousness, "Now, now, please calm down," he said.

"But why increase the fee so much?" Lucy asked, looking worried.

Kirby looked down at his feet, "That book really needs to be destroyed," he said, growling back in his throat, "It's a blight on my house, and I cannot forgive its existence." Lucy was surprised as the man's face darkened at the mention of the book they were to destroy.

She would have voiced her opinion, but she was grabbed by Natsu and dragged out of the room before she could. "H-Hey!?"

"Oh, yeah, let's go, guys, I got a burnin' passion now!" Natso yelled as he dragged the girl behind him. Naruto was right behind them, yelling angrily while Happy brought up the rear.

"Dammit, Natsu, let go of Lucy before you yank her arm off!" Naruto roared.

"He loves her~!" Happy chirped.

"Shut it, ya fuzzy football!"

As the four wizards left, Kirby sighed as his wife came up to him, "Darling...are you sure you can entrust the job to children like them?" She asked, looking down at her husband and seeing the tired tired look on his face, "The other Guild failed the same mission last week," she pointed out with a slight frown, "And from Duke Everlue's point of view, it was nothing more than a failed robbery." She sighed, looking toward the window and seeing the four travelers running out, "There's no doubt that the security's been increased, so getting into the mansion will be almost impossible."

Kirby sighed, palming his face, "I know... I know that I'm asking for a great deal from those kids...but...I just...need to remove that book from this world!"

=And Then=

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Lucy asked.

"Well, it is the easiest way to gauge his character," Naruto sighed grudgingly, although he hated what was going on, "Just be sure not to let him do anything weird to you, alright?"

Lucy groaned. "This isn't gonna work..."

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up and get up there!" Natsu hissed from the bushes.

Lucy glared at him, but sighed, ' _Oh, well, at least I got to see Naruto blushing over how I'm dressed,_ ' she thought, blushing a bit herself. In the end, they had decided to go along with the duke's need for a blonde maid. And truth be told, Naruto was not sorry.

' _Why did she have to pick out such a short skirt?_ ' Naruto wondered, unable to take his eyes off of her as she advanced toward the mansion. ' _I guess this is what I get for living on an island all my life._ '

Lucy went up to the gate and pressed the buzzer, "Excuse me," she said sweetly, "I've come to apply for the blonde-haired maid position!" She waited patiently, but received no answer, "Excuse meee~! Is there anyone home?!" She called out, beginning to get nervous, ' _Just stay calm. All I have to do is get in, get the book, and look for Naruto's sword, then get the hell outta this place._ '

She looked back at the treeline where Naruto and Natsu were hiding. Both of them flashed her the thumbs-up sign, mouthing ' _Good luck!_ ' to her.

Lucy was about to call out again, but then the ground at her feet suddenly erupted as a giant humanoid figure lept out. "Hieek!" Lucy nearly screeched in fright as a giant of a woman landed.

The woman was at least ten feet tall, and almost as wide, dressed in a maid outfit, and had pink-scraggly hair, "You're a maid applicant?"

' _H-huge!_ ' Naruto and Natsu gawked at the woman.

The monster-maid looked back down into the hole she had made, "There's a girl here to apply for the maid position, Master," she called down.

Not a moment later, a man bounced right out, and Lucy nearly made a break for right there and then from the look on his face, "Boyoyoyooon! You called?!"

' _Somebody help me...!_ ' Lucy wailed internally. ' _I knew this was a bad idea!_ ' She shivered as Everlue began leering at her, bust first, going down to her hips and legs, ' _Oh my god!_ '

"Rejected," he said, waving her off, "Go home, Ugly."

"Ug...ugly..." she teared up immediately, freezing in place as the large maid picked her up.

"That's it," she said, "Time to go home, Ugly."

"...ugly..."

~FWING~

Lucy was crying into her knees as she sat with her back against a tree, "He...he called me ugly...and when there was the huge gorilla right there!" She whined forlornly as Naruto tried to comfort her.

"Aw, come on!" The blond said cheerfully, "That guy wouldn't know a pretty girl if she came up an kicked him!" He said, gesturing wildly, not knowing how to deal with a crying girl, "I-I-I mean did you see those maids he had with him!? I may not believe there's such a thing as a truly ugly person on the outside, but those bitches were ugly on the inside, big time!"

"B-but I didn't even get a chance to get in!" Lucy wailed, "This was supposed to be an easy job!"

Natsu sighed, "Yeah, you were pretty useless."

"NATSU!" Naruto roared.

"WAAAH!" Lucy cried streams of tears from her eyes.

"Oh, great, now look what you've done!" Naruto growled, taking Natsu by the shoulder, "That was too far, now go and apologize!"

Natsu frowned, "I'm not talking about acting like a maid," he said, pointing at Lucy's right hand, "Lucy didn't cover up her Guild mark. Everlue must have seen that and figured out she was from a Guild," he pointed out, making the blondes flinch. "Now he knows that we're trying to get into the mansion, and we'll have to find a different way in."

Lucy paled, "Oh, my gosh, I can't believe I forgot to cover this!" She said, looking at the boys, "I'm so sorry, I should've known better!"

"No worries," Naruto grinned, cracking his knuckles, "Besides, that guy just screams 'Kick my ass'. And boy do I ever want to do that right now!"

Happy came flying in to their hiding spot, and perched on Naruto's head, "I did just like you said, Naruto," Happy said, "I checked all of the windows, and I found the library, but I didn't see anything like a sword, or any sort of weapon."

Naruto frowned, crossing his arms, "Well, at least we know where to start looking for the book," he said, "That's out top priority right there, but if that sword is here, then there's no way I'm leaving it with that fat duke. It's dangerous."

"It's a sword," Natsu said, "Of course it's dangerous."

Naruto shook his head, "You don't get it. Holy Swords are incredibly rare, and powerful artifacts from before the time of Zeref, and there was even one rumored to be created by him, but this one was one of the first. It can cut through anything the wielder wishes using their magical energy, and even when they run out, the sword itself is still lethal because the blade is sharp enough to cut through dragon scales. It can also transform into a spear, giving it a greater range. Plus it's said that whoever wields the blade has the power to make miracles happen."

Lucy was a little shocked, "How is something like that not in possession of the Magic Council?" She asked, "If it's so dangerous, then why hasn't it been found?"

Naruto shrugged, "I haven't got a clue, but I need to find it if this guy's as rotten as he feels," he said, and plucked Happy off of his head, "Okay, Happy, let's get up to the library, and get that book."

"Aye, Sir."

A few minutes later found the wizards plus cat landing on the balcony of the mansion. Natsu melted a hole through the glass door, and opened it up, "Why do we have to sneak in?"

"Because causing any sort of noise would make this job a lot harder," Naruto said as he landed next to Lucy, "Think about it, we get in, get out, and we get our money, simple. Besides, there's no telling if we'll run into trouble."

"I could use some trouble right about now," Natsu grumbled as they crept into the mansion, "Man, what's with all this junk?"

Lucy came through the window after him, "It must be a storage room of some kind," she said, looking back at Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, you think that sword would be in here?"

Naruto shook his head as he reached down and clutched at Caliburn, "No, it's not here. Holy Swords tend to call out to each other when they're near each other. Sort of like a territorial thing. They'll want to fight." He said, having a thought, and unsheathed the blade, "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"What?" Lucy and Natsu asked.

Naruto grinned, "I can use Caliburn as a dousing rod," he said, smiling widely, "Holy Swords do call to each other! It'll be like a couple of magnets if I do it like this!"

Lucy smiled at him, "Hey, that's a great idea...but won't we have to split up?" She said, frowning, "Are you sure you wanna do that?"

Naruto gave her a warm smile, and patted her on the head, an action that made her blush, "Hey, no need to worry, Lucy," he said, "You'll have Natsu and Happy around to keep you safe, and besides, I still have Caliburn and my Gate Keys if things go South."

"Just promise you'll be careful, okay?" Lucy pouted.

"Always," the blond said, gesturing toward the door, "Now, get going, Caliburn feels like it's drawing me down, which means I need to head lower, and the library is on this level."

The two wizards nodded and snuck into the hall ways. Naruto waited a few minutes before heading out himself, and heading down stairs. Following Caliburn's pull led him unerringly toward the lower reaches of the mansion. He kept hearing explosions up above and grinned, "Sounds like Natsu's having fun." He chuckled.

The hall way he was in was dusty and deserted, but the sword drew him deeper still to a door at the end of the hall, "Where are you taking me?" He wondered, and pushed the door open.

Meanwhile...

Lucy squeaked in pain as Everlue's grip tightened on her wrists. "I'm warning you, girl, tell me the secret of that book, or I'll break both of your arms one at a time!"

Lucy looked behind her, and stuck her tongue out at him, "You don't deserve to know it!"

"RAGH!" He roared, and pulled back on her arms, making her scream in pain, "I told you to to tell me, you little brat," Everlue roared angrily, "That book belongs to me, and therefore I have every right to know what secrets it holds! I'm the one that made Zaleon write it! GYAH!"

Lucy yelped as her arms were released and saw Happy giving the duke a flying drop kick to the head. She stumbled against the walls, her shoulder slamming into it. And the wall moved...

"What the -?!" Lucy, book still in hand, fell to the floor as the wall turned, revealing a revolving door.

"Lucy!" Happy yelled, flying after her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" The duke roared. "Get out of that room immediately!"

Lucy looked up, and found herself staring at...a spear...a dark, dust-covered spear. "Th-that's got to be Durandal!"

She scrambled to her feet and lunged for it.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Everlue lunged under the ground, trying to cut her off, but the girl was already reaching out to grasp the blade. Her hands closed around it, and a smile came to her face.

"I got it!" Lucy crowed, hefting the spear as Everlue came up, "Now you're in for it! This happens to be a Holy weapon called Durandal!"

Everlue looked as frightened as he did shocked, "Y-you think that's a Holy Sword?! You idiot!" The man yelled, pointing at the blade as the dust began to lift from it, "That's no Holy Sword, that's the curse spear, Gae Bolg!"

"Huh?" The girl looked at the spear as a eerie red glow shone from the shaft, "Wha-what's going on...I feel...cold..." Lucy trembled as her eyes began to dull, and she dropped the book. The spear shone brighter as a golden armor started to form around Lucy's body. "Heh...hehe..." Happy shivered as Lucy began to laugh, and a manic smile appeared on her face as she straightened. "You..." she pointed the tip of the crimson spear at the duke, "I'll have your heart!"

Everlue shrieked and fled from the room. Happy watched as Lucy rushed the wall, and slammed into it with tremendous strength, shattering the stone. Everlue dove under ground to escape her.

"There's no where to run," Lucy's eyes glowed as red as blood, "There's no where to hide." She thrust the spear point into the ground, shattering the walkway beneath her, and causing Everlue to come out of hiding.

" _Open, Gate of the Maiden!_ " Everlue yelled out. " _Virgo!_ "

The ground tore open as the large pink-haired maid from before appeared. "You summoned me, Master?" She said, unknowingly bringing a passenger with her.

"Natsu!" Happy cried happily(No pun intended).

Natsu looked around in confusion, "What the -?! How the hell did I get here!?"

"Never mind that!" Happy yelled, flying up next to him, and pointed with his paws, "Ya gotta stop Lucy!"

The pink-haired Dragon Slayer jumped down from Virgo's back to stand in front of the girl, "What the heck's up with that outfit, Lucy?" He asked, not seeing the danger, "And where the hell did you get that spear?"

Lucy's smile grew, "A Dragon Slayer," she smiled, her eyes narrowing, "Perfect...it's been such a long time since I've been able to fight someone worthy."

"What are you -WHOA!" Natsu yelped as she lunged at him with the spear, "What the hell're you doin'!?"

Happy zoomed in and smacked the surprised girl in the face with his tail, "Natsu, she's possessed! That spear's the one doing it!"

Everlue shot the cat a look, "Your pet's right, Salamander!" The duke said, "As long as that spear's in her hands, she'll attack and kill anyone in her path!"

Lucy twirled the spear in her hands, "Not true...I'll keep some of you alive just to see you suffer," she giggled, aiming her spear at the two men, "Now then, which one of you wants to die first?"

=x=

Naruto pushed against a section of the wall, giving it a good, hard shove, opening up another door. Caliburn's pull was at its strongest now, and he had no doubt what was behind the door. As he entered the room, a smile came to his face as he replaced Caliburn in its sheath and he saw the sword sitting in a pedestal. The dust and cob webs barely hid the blackened hue of the deadly blade as he advanced.

"Finally," he said as his hand closed around the hilt, "You're mine!"

* * *

 _ **Cliff hanger alert! Lucy's accidentally grabbed a cursed weapon, and is on the war path, while Naruto has taken hold of his prize!**_

 _ **It's Gungir Vs. Durandal in the next chapter!**_

 _ **Please review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**5: Unholy Lightning**_

* * *

An explosion rocked the foundations of the catacombs, nearly knocking Naruto off of his feet. "What the hell's going on here?" He shouted, placing his newest sword at his back, and ran out of the room. As he came out, bolts of electricity sparked along the walls and water running through the canals. "What the - ?!"

The walls exploded out as Natsu came hurtling through them, "GAH! Dammit, that hurt!" He roared with flames at his mouth, "Hey, Happy, where'd you go, little buddy?!"

Happy came flying through the rubble, and landed nearby, "Natsu, are you okay?!"

"Fine," the Dragon Slayer said, rubbing some blood from his face, "But man does Lucy pack a punch!"

Naruto looked at the pair in confusion, "Hey!" He shouted, gaining their attention, "What the hell happened to you guys?!"

Natsu and Happy looked at him in relief, "Oho, man, are we glad to see you, Naruto!" Natsu grinned, "Lucy found that spear you were lookin' for, but now she's tryin' to kill us!"

Naruto looked at them, " _She_ found it?!" Naruto growled, drawing Durandal from its sheath, " _I've_ got it! What did she find?!"

Happy fluttered over to him, "Duke Everlue called it a cursed spear," he said, and landed on his shoulder, "Gae Bolg I think is what he called it." Naruto stiffened upon hearing the name of the weapon.

"Are you kidding!?" Naruto yelled, and took off down the hall, throwing Happy from his shoulder, "You guys find that stupid book and wait for me outside! I'll take care of Lucy!"

Natsu watched him go for a moment, "Hey...how come he gets to go and fight?" Natsu asked of his companion, "Lucy sucker punched me, so I owe her one!" He roared, igniting his fists.

"No, don't do that, it wasn't Lucy!" Happy pleaded as Natsu started after Naruto. "Wait a minute!"

Natsu cackled, "No way! There's a fight goin' on, and there's no way I'm missin' out on it!"

Happy looked after the retreating Dragon Slayer. "Oh, boy," Happy sighed, pulling out the book from his little back pack, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

Meanwhile, Naruto was pelting down the halls of the catacombs falling the sound of battle. As he rounded a corner, Duke Everlue came hurtling out of the darkness and slammed into the opposite wall. Naruto spared him a small glance, and noted that he was only knocked out. His eyes then gazed back down the hall when the sound of heels clicking the stone floors reached his ears.

"Such a shame," Lucy's voice drifted to his ears, frighteningly calm, and cold, "that little man did nothing but run the entire time I fought with him," glinting in the dim light cast by the lacrima on the walls, Lucy sauntered into view dressed in strange golden armor. Over her shoulder she carried the blood-red spear that Naruto hoped he wouldn't encounter. A smirk curved her lips as she locked eyes with him, "Well, Holy Swordsman, will you give me the fight I so desire?"

Naruto took Durandal in hand, leveling at her, "Listen to me, Gae Bolg," the blond said, causing the possessed girl to cock her head to the side, "I'm only going to ask you once, so let my friend go, before things get out of hand."

'Gae Bolg' laughed, "Out of hand you say?" She asked, taking the spear from her shoulder and pointing the tip at him, "I rather like the sound of that. Feel free to utterly destroy anything and everything around us." The spear sparked with electricity, "Because if you don't give me a truly magnificent battle, I'm going to tear you apart with the hands of your friend." The spear charged a ball of lightning at the tip, " _Lightning Blast!_ "

Naruto had less than a second to flatten himself against the wall before a powerful surge of lightning rushed forth, exploding against the wall behind him, and shattering the stone. A cut opened up on his left cheek as one of the stones caught the side of his face. ' _That's a strong attack._ ' He thought, his eyes widening as Lucy, no, Gae Bolg, came at him with the blade.

He parried the point, and sent the tip into the ground, kicking out at her stomach. Gae staggered back, uninjured, but Naruto knew Lucy was definitely feeling it.

She came at him again, lightning flying from the tip of her spear in wide arcs. Gae Bolg's spear and Durandal crashed together in a shower of sparks. Naruto glared at her, "Let Lucy go!"

"Oh?" Gae smiled, "Is she special to you, Swordsman?"

Naruto growled, and stomped his right foot on the ground, drawing a circle with his heel, "Sorry about this, Lucy! _Angel's Halo!_ " He called out. A pale blue magic circle appeared under his feet, and spread across the walls, ceiling, and floor. From all sides, the magical array shot bolts of white energy fired. Gae laughed in glee as she dipped, dodged and almost danced through the field.

"I know that spell," Gae smiled as the spell petered out, "It's a Angel's spell. You're a lot more fun than you look, Swordsman. But you're not the only one that knows Holy spells." She pointed with her spear again, a circle coming to the tip, with white orbs around the edges. Energy gathered in front of the circle, " _Seraphic Bolt!_ " A lightning bolt in a multitude of colors erupted from the spear.

"DAMN!" Naruto quickly pulled out Caliburn. He only made it half-way from the sheath before the bolt struck the flat of the blade. His feet skidded, and slid across the stone floor as the Holy Sword absorbed the energy of the spell. Unsheathing the blade completely, Naruto let loose a bolt of energy of his own in return as Caliburn released the energy it had absorbed.

Gae screeched as the bolt hit her dead center, and blasted her back. Naruto frowned at that. If the spirit was in pain, he could only imagine what Lucy was going through. He could only hope that he could heal her later, and maybe make it up to her, somehow.

' _I've got to get that spear away from her!_ ' Naruto thought, looking down at both swords in his hands, ' _Durandal's my best bet, but Caliburn can send her energy right back at her...dammit, Caliburn could kill Lucy, though!_ ' He sighed as he replaced Caliburn in its sheath, taking a stance with Durandal raised as Gae staggered back to her feet, smiling as a small amount of blood dripped from her lips.

"That's good...that's very good..." she said, her red eyes glowing, "You are very worthy of me. It's such a shame that I couldn't have taken control of your body instead of this pathetic little girl of yours." She said, and lunged forward, "Come at me, Swordsman!"

"Shut up!" Naruto roared, raising his sword high, "Cut through the curse! _Durandal_!" Naruto roared as Gae neared him, and brought it down with great force. Gae raised the spear in front of her to defend herself, but the black blade passed right through the shaft...and right through Lucy's body.

The red in her eyes dimmed back to the warm brown that he knew so well as her mouth opened in a silent scream. The armor shattered, leaving her bare as she fell to her knees. Naruto whipped off his cloak and wrapped it around her quickly. He tore a sleeve from the cloak, and went to wrap the cloth around the shaft of the spear.

Any contact with the skin of a human and the spear would try to take control of them. He planned to keep that from happening. "Hey, Naruto," Natsu's voice drifted to him, and he looked behind him to see the young Dragon Slayer running up behind him.

"I thought I told you to wait outside?" Naruto asked, "And where's the book?"

Natsu frowned at him, "Jeez, someone's bossy. Come on, man, I was worried about you and Lucy, is that so hard to believe?" He asked, looking at the destruction of the area, "Man, you guy's really tore it up in here. But you won, right?"

Naruto nodded, "More or less," he picked Lucy up in his arms, "Come on, let's go find Happy, and get the hell out of here." He said, tipping his head toward the spear that lay on the ground, "Can you grab that?" He asked, "Just don't touch the shaft. Or it'll take control of you, just like Lucy."

Natsu nodded, making sure to grip the cloth, "Is she gonna be alright?"

Naruto shook his head, "I don't know," he said, "Gae Bolg wasn't shy about taking damage, so Lucy took a lot of hits."

A rumble shook the catacombs, making the hair on the back of Naruto's neck to rise, "Uh, Natsu..."

"Yeah, Lucy kind'a destroyed a lot of walls when she was fightin' with me," Natsu grinned, "So...RUN FOR YOUR _LIIIIIIIIFE_!"

"Oh, ya gotta be kiddin' me!" Naruto roared, and high-tailed it right behind the Dragon Slayer. Unfortunately for the blond, he had to grab Everlue on the way out, none too gently either, and carrying two unconscious bodies was not an easy thing to do.

"Hey, guys!" Happy yelled as he flew toward them, "I got something I need to tell Lucy!"

"Not now little buddy!" Natsu yelled as he ran past him and grabbed his tail, "We gotta go!"

" _WAAAAH_! _LE'GO MY TAIL_!" Happy screeched.

Naruto nearly laughed, "Why couldn't this have been a simple job?"

Natsu just grinned at him as the ran out into the mansion, "Well, at least you got your sword, right?"

The mansion trembled and quaked as the made for the door, "Are you kidding me!" He roared a the mansion collapsed around them. He dropped Everlue on the front step, and the two wizards hit the gate. "I love this job!"

It was dark by the time they decided to take a breather, and lay Lucy down so she could heal. Naruto looked over her, careful not to reveal too much skin in front of the Dragon Slayer. All in all, Lucy had just been exhausted from being taken over by Gae Bolg, and so had Naruto for that matter. Channeling his magic through the Holy Sword, let alone both of them, had nearly cost him. Lucky for him, Lucy's injuries were minor.

"So what are you gonna do with this thing?" Natsu asked, holding up the bound spear that had caused them so much trouble. "You're not gonna keep it, are you?"

Naruto gave him a look, "Hell, no," Naruto said, "Cursed weapons like that are nothing but trouble. Unfortunately, they're almost impossible to destroy as well. Durandal could do it, but destroying it would also cause a lot of damage because of all the magic energy stored inside it."

"So, you're keeping it?" Natsu frowned.

"I'll figure something out," the blond said, frowning over Lucy, waving his hand over her body. The robe he had wrapped around her glowed and shifted into a dress of the same color. giving the girl some much needed clothing. "Did we get the book?"

Happy smiled, "Yeah, I've got it right here." He said, pulling the book from his pack, "Lucy was saying that it has a secret inside of it, and that Mr. Melon should see it."

Natsu shrugged, "We can always burn it right in front of him if he wants."

Naruto nodded, "We'll wait until Lucy wakes up, and then we'll had back to the client's home," he said, rising from his place beside the girl, "I'll collect some fire wood...hey, Happy, I think I saw a small creek nearby, you think you could fish up some grub?"

Happy beamed, "You got it, Naruto!" He said, flying off immediately.

Naruto sighed, feeling drained, "Be back in a minute, Natsu."

Natsu nodded, "I'll keep an eye on things here."

It didn't take long for Naruto to return with an arm load of fire wood, and soon, Natsu had a fire going, and was munching on a few torches until Happy came back with a large bundle of fish.

While they ate, Natsu cast a worried glance at the sleeping girl, "Hey, you sure she's gonna be alright?" He asked, pointing at the blonde, "She's been out for a few hours now."

"Being possessed probably drained all of her magic as well," Naruto said, "She doesn't have a large reserve of magic just yet, so she's pretty easily drained. After that was done, Gae Bolg used its own magic power to fight."

"Are there a lot of swords and stuff like that out there?" Happy asked, munching on a fish, "That spear was really scary."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, there were. Gae Bolg is one of two spears that I know of. Gungnir was the other one, and it was way more powerful than this thing. If I'd been fighting Gungnir instead, I'd probably have ended up killing Lucy, or doing way more damage to her than this."

"Jeez," Natsu frowned, "Damn. Naruto, just what kind of wizard are you?"

Naruto smiled and took a huge bite of fish, "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard, ya know?"

=x=

Lucy felt worn down to the bone when she finally opened her eyes. She sat up slowly, a pounding in her head, "What...in the world happened to me...?" She wondered as sh began to look around, finding Naruto sitting against the tree beside her, sound asleep. Across from them lay Natsu and Happy, also snoozing away.

Between them lay a spear...a spear as red as blood. Lucy's mouth fell open as she recognized it, "That's right! That spear!" She gasped, shivering as she remember how cold the presence in her mind had been. And the feeling of helplessness as she watched her body do battle with her friend.

For a moment, she was sure that Naruto had killed her, but the black blade had passed right through just like she was a ghost. Then she had felt the presence leave her, and she was herself again.

She looked at the sleeping Celestial wizard, and smiled, ' _He saved me again,_ ' she sighed, sitting up and leaning against the tree herself. A part of her was thankful to the blond wizard, but another part, a _larger_ part, was furious with herself for being so weak that she'd let herself being taken over by Gae Bolg.

She rested her head against his shoulder, letting the natural warmth the blond seemed to radiate seeping into her.

"How're you feeling?" Naruto's gravely voice asked, startling her slightly as she looked up to see him with his eyes cracked open.

Lucy sighed and leaned back on his shoulder, smiling, "Fine, thanks to you guys again," she said truthfully. "I'm so sorry for attacking you like that."

Naruto looked at her, wide awake now, "You remember?"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, all of it, from when I picked up the spear, and to the point you cut through the curse." She said, frowning, looking up at him, "Naruto, you said that I could learn the same type of magic you can use, right? Because I'm a Celestial Spirit Wizard, right?"

Naruto nodded, "A second tier Celestial wizard normally has to learn from a Celestial being," he said, making Lucy's spirits fall, "But since I already know most of the magic I need to know, I bet I could teach you." He said, gaining a huge crooked grin on his face. The blush that spread across Lucy's face could have lit up all of Magnolia.

She stretched up and pressed her lips against his cheek gently, letting them linger for a moment before settling back against the tree while the blond looked down at her, stunned. "Wh-what was that for?" He asked, touching his cheek with his fingers, the spot where she had kissed him tingling.

"For saving me," she said, turning her face away so he couldn't see how red she was, even though he sported a blush all of his own. She then looked back up at him with a bright smile on her face, "So, from today on, I'm your student, right?"

"R-right," Naruto stammered, giving her a thumbs-up, "I'll train ya into a Celestial Wizard in no time, ya know!"

Lucy giggled. "I look forward to learning from you."

=x=

Lucy gave a slight bow as she presented Kirby with _DayBreak,_ the stunned man looking at her in disbelief. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked rather uneasily, "If I remember correctly, I asked you to destroy it."

Lucy nodded, "Yes, but, given how long you've tried to get this book, I figured its fate should be in your hands in the end," she said sadly as Kirby accepted the book. "The book itself is made of poor material meant for books, so it should be easy to destroy if you want."

Kirby looked down at the book, and a snarl came to his face, "You're right, burning this book would give me a great satisfaction in knowing that this...this filth is gone!" He said, striding over to the fireplace, "I'll incinerate it right now!"

"I understand why you'd want to burn it," Lucy said, making him stop in his tracks, "It's to protect your father's pride, isn't it?" She asked, making him turn to look at the girl, "You're real name is Kaby, and you're the son of Kemu Zaleon, aren't you?"

Naruto and Natsu were more than a little shocked, "Why would you want to destroy one of your father's books so badly," the blond wizard asked.

"How did you know?" Kaby asked of Lucy, ignoring the stunned looks on the faces of the others.

Lucy rubbed her arms over the sleeves of her new dress, "Have...have you ever read that book?"

Kaby shook his head, "No, never...I've only ever heard of it from my father." He said, looking down at the book in his hands, "But reading it...would be a waste of time. My father said that this book was nothing but a piece of trash."

Natsu stepped forward, looking angry, "Is that why you wanted to burn it?"

"Yes."

Natsu strode forward, ready to grab the man, but Naruto and Lucy were there to hold him back, "Burning it just because it's not a good book, what the hell are you thinking, huh?!"

"You need to chill out, Natsu!" Naruto shouted.

Happy looked up at him, "But his daddy wrote that book!"

"I told you all that it's a matter of protecting Kemu's pride!" Lucy shouted at the pair while Naruto tried to hold the irate Dragon Slayer back.

Kaby nodded, looking down at the book in his hands, "It's true...my father was ashamed to have written ' _DayBreak_ '." He said, thinking back on it, "It was little over thirty-one years ago that my father returned from writing this horrible book. He said it had ruined him as a writer, and vowed that he would never write another again...he cut off his own arm." He said, much to the shock of the wizards, and his wife, "I was enraged by it all, and told him that he was nothing to me, not even a father...and so he took his own life...I hated him even after he passed away...and I hated him even more for not having the strength to not stand up for himself." He said, reaching into his pocket for a book of matches. "But as time passed, I came to regret all that I had said to him," he said with a sad smile, "If I hadn't said such horrible things to him that day, he wouldn't have taken his own life."

He took a match from the box and struck it, "That's why I wanted to eliminate this piece of trash from the world," He said, holding out the book, "This is the only thing that can help me atone for the things I've said and done, and the only way that he can regain his pride as a writer." He held the flaming match to the book, "Now my father can - "

"Hold on!" Lucy yelped, but before she could go on, the book began to glow, causing Kaby to drop both the match and the book. Natsu caught the match in a flash and had it eaten before it could hit the floor. But the book floated in place in front of Kaby and the so did the letters forming the title. Floating up from the book, the letters rearranged themselves.

"Dear...Kaby..." Naruto read, and smiled, "I get it...that book was disguised as Everlue's trash story, when it was a long letter to you, his son."

Lucy nodded with a smile on her face, "That's right, because Kemu Zaleon was just another alias for him, when he was actually Zekua Melon, a very powerful wizard," she said, "He cast a spell that shuffled the letters of the book, including the contents." The book opened and the letters on the pages floated away, filling the room in golden light.

"Wow, that's really pretty," Happy said, pawing at the letters.

"The reason he quit being a writer," Lucy went on, smiling at the display, "Wasn't because he was forced to write such a horrible book, but because he'd already written his greatest book ever."

"Amazing," Natsu said as the letters spiraled around the room.

"It's like the letters are dancing," Naruto said.

"Aye!"

"The best book he'd ever written," Lucy smiled, "contained letters to you, Kaby, and everything thing he ever wanted to tell you." The characters flowed back into the book and floated down into Kaby's hands. "That's what your father really wanted to leave behind."

Kaby started reading the book, his eyes tearing up, "Dad...I never really understood him."

"Of course," Lucy smiled, "If you understood how a writer thinks, then there won't be any pleasure in reading a book at all."

=x=

Naruto sighed as they made their way home, "Well, we didn't get the reward," he said, giving a small grin, looking over at Lucy, "But, at least you and me got a a little bonus, ya know?"

Lucy giggled, holding up a Golden Gate Key, "I can't believe I got Virgo's Gate Key," she beamed, looking at the senior Celestial Wizard, "And you got your sword, so even if we didn't take the money, we still walk away with something."

"Except me," Natsu grumbled, brightening up almost instantly, "But it was still a fun mission!"

"Come to think of it," Lucy said, looking at the Dragon Slayer, "How'd you know that it wasn't their house in the first place?"

Natsu looked at her as if it were obvious, "Because it smelled like someone else's house," he said, crossing his arms, "How come you didn't notice?"

"I am not an animal!" Lucy yelled.

Naruto laughed at the duo, "But you know...that writer was actually a really powerful wizard, ya know?" He said, smiling, "So powerful that even after thirty years of casting a spell, the magic is still strong."

Lucy nodded, smiling, "It seems like he was in a Guild when he was younger, and wrote about the adventures he'd experienced back then." She said, sighing, "I'd love to do something like that."

Natsu grinned at her, "I knew it!"

"Knew what?!" Lucy yelped.

"You're trying to write a novel, aren't ya?!" Natsu declared.

Happy looked at her with a grin, "No wonder you like books so much!"

"How'd you even know about that!" Lucy cried, noticing that Naruto was strangely quiet. "It was you, wasn't it!?"

Naruto gulped, "Ah, I've got no idea!" He said, backing away from the irate blonde, "Whoa, look at the time, we'd better get going!" He turned and tore down the road with Lucy right after him.

"No you don't!" The blonde roared, taking her whip from her hip, "I take back everything nice I ever said about you! And you'd better not tell anyone else! GET BACK HERE!"

"Oh, come on, this is no way to treat your teacher, ya know!" Naruto yelled.

"You haven't taught me squat!" Lucy yelled right back, and cracked her whip at his rear, "And don't think I forgot about waking up with no underwear on! You saw me naked again, didn't you!"

"It was involuntary!"

"Who cares!?"

Natsu and Happy were laughing up a storm. "Oh, man, Lucy's almost as scary as Erza!" Natsu roared, thumping the ground with his foot, "Naruto's totally whipped!"

"They're in love~!" Happy yelled.

"No we're not!" Naruto and Lucy yelled.

* * *

 _ **Gae Bolg has been stopped, and Naruto and Lucy both have something to take away from the mission. Even Natsu got something out of, even if it was just a few laughs. Everyone know's what's coming next!**_

 _ **Please review!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**We're entering into the Lullaby Arc, folks, and Naruto is heading into it with two Holy Swords, and is in possession of a Cursed Weapon. Lucy is on her way to learning from everyone's favorite blond wizard, and I'm not talkin' 'bout Laxus! But just to let you know, to give power to good spells, you have the need to learn Evil Spells as well...boo!**_

 _ **6: Erza**_

* * *

The Guild hall was slightly quieter as Lucy stared up at the Job Request board. Having not received the reward from her first real job, she was in need of rent money since Naruto had already paid his half, which he was more than happy to pay the rest in her place considering he owed her for taking him in, but the girl refused.

He was already willing to teach her advanced Celestial Magic, so she didn't want to feel like she wasn't doing her part about paying rent. In the week they'd been back, though, Naruto had been doing a lot of work, so he hardly had time to teach her anything, much as she wanted to learn. The day before he had seen a job posted on the board that had caught his eye quickly, and he was out the door before anyone could blink.

"How does he do it," she wondered as she looked at a flyer asking for someone to take down some bandits that was worth a whopping one hundred thousand jewels. She picked it up, "Hmm, there's so many different types of requests that I'm not sure which one to take up?"

Mirajane, who had been watching her from behind the bar, smiled as the girl took the flyer, "If you want to take on a job, then you'll have to bring it to me since the master isn't here at the moment."

"Hmm?" Lucy looked down the bar toward Makarov's usual spot, and saw that the man was indeed absent. "Oh yeah, you're right." She said, wondering where the man was.

Mirajane chuckled, "He has to attend a regular meeting of the Guild Masters, so he'll be out for a little while." She said as Lucy brought over the job request, "Ah, where's Naruto? Isn't he back, yet?"

Lucy shook her head as she sat down at the bar, "No, he's been gone for a whole day, even though he said he'd be back in no time," she sighed, feeling down without her blond roommate around. "It's...kinda lonely without him around..."

Mira just looked at the younger wizard, and smiled as she leaned on the counter with her face cupped in her hands, "Lucy, are you by chance falling for your roommate?" She asked with a kitty grin as Lucy flinched.

Lucy looked at her, and frowned, "Is...is it _that_ obvious?"

Mirajane giggled, and patted her on the shoulder, "Not really, but you've been sighing all day, and since Naruto's not around, he's the only guy I know that you could be hung up on besides Natsu, and really, I kinda think you two look cute together. Almost like Alzack and Bisca, though they both know they like each other, but just don't want to risk ruining their friendship."

Lucy raised her brow at this, "Wow, they've got it that bad?" She asked, casting a small glance toward the Gun Magic duo. "No wonder they're always together."

Mirajane nodded, "Truth be told, I expect the minute those two figure out there's nothing to worry about, I'll be an auntie in no time." Both young women started giggling. "So," the barmaid asked, "How bad do you have it for your roomy?"

A small blush crossed the girl's cheeks, "Not sure, really. I mean, he's sweet and all, but he can be so random sometimes," she said, huffing, "And he's seen me naked one too many times for someone I'm not even dating - "

"Yet." Mirajane put in.

Lucy ignored her, "He's also got this crooked little grin of his that always seems to make me forget I'm mad at him," she sighed, leaning on her hands, "I mean, is that normal?"

"For a girl crushing hard on someone, yes," Mirajane said with a giggle, "Don't get the wrong idea, Lucy, but even I'd go after Naruto just because of his looks, and let me tell you, I was no prude when I was younger." She said with a slight blush on her face, "But keep in mind just how innocent Naruto acts sometimes. He may have the decency to feel embarrassed in such situations, but I highly doubt he had much physical contact with a lot of women on his island, wherever that is."

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, I guess...so what do I do?"

"Let nature take its coarse," Mirajane shrugged, "I already know that he thinks the world of you, because he's come to your rescue so many times without hesitation, and he thinks of you as his closest friend. And sooner or later, he'll realize he cares about you way more than that."

The blonde wizard sighed, "I guess I can wait a little while longer," she smiled, "Anyway, what was that you were saying about a regular meeting?"

"Oh, it's a meeting where the Guild Masters from different provinces come together to report about their Guilds," she said smiling, "It's a bit different from the Council meeting, but...hm, it's a bit confusing." She said, looking down the bar to a large, round man making a sketch, "Reedus, can I borrow a Light Pen, please?"

"Oui." He said, handing it to her.

Mirajane then proceeded to draw a diagram in light above the bar. "You couldn't have possibly know the organizational chart of the Mage World when you've just joined a Guild, right?" She said while Lucy looked at the diagram in interest. "The ten council members who have connections to the government hold the highest position in the magical world." She said, "They exist to protect the order in the world of mages, they also try wizards that have commited crimes in the Guild."

Lucy nodded in understanding, "So they're like the rulers of all the wizards," she said, thinking about it simply.

"Pretty much," Mirajane said, nodding, "Now the Guild Masters are right underneath them. Their job is to smoothen out the communications between Guilds in every province, and to notify their Guild about Council decisions, as well as bring them together."

Lucy was looking over the diagram still, slightly stunned, "It sounds like a really tough job," she said, cuping her chin in her left hand, "I had no idea that each Guild had a connection to one another."

Mirajane sighed, lacing her fingers together, "Connections between the Guilds is important." She said, solemnly, "If you neglect theses...you know..."

Lucy looked at Mirajane, failing to see a certain pinkette sneaking up behind her. "People from the darkness will come to get you~!" Natsu hissed menacingly with a ball of fire shadowing his face, scaring the life out of Lucy.

Natsu cackled while Lucy reprimanded him as Mirajane handed Reedus back the pen she'd borrowed, "But these people from the darkness really do exist," she said, catching the pair's attention, "We call whatever Guild that doesn't belong to the League a 'Dark Guild'."

"They don't follow the rules, so the Magic Council doesn't like them all that much," Natsu put in carelessly.

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"Then they'll be coming for you some day," Lucy said.

Natsu just grinned and tucked his arms behind his head, "Either way, why don't you choose a job for us already," he said.

Happy fluttered up beside him, "We chose the last one, so it's your call since Naruto's not around." The cat said.

Lucy harrumped, turning around from the duo, "Don't think I forgot about you two trying to use me as bait for Duke Everlue," she said, miffed, "If it wasn't for Naruto, I'd've been toast. So I'm not teaming up with you guys anymore."

Both Natsu looked at her in confusion, "Why?"

"Aye."

"Are you kidding!?" Lucy yelled at them, "You were gonna use me as bait from the very beginning just because I'm a blonde! It could have been anyone, all they needed was the right color hair!"

"You're right, but so what?"

" _SEE_!"

"But," Natsu grinned, "We chose you to be on our team because you're a nice person, Lucy." He said truthfully. Lucy looked at him with a small angry blush on her face, though she thought about letting it slide for all of a second before turning away and ordering a drink.

There was a laugh from one of the tables, "You know you don't have to force yourself to team up with anyone," Gray said with a puff of his cigarette. "I heard you did excellent job that last time, so I'll bet you'll gt plenty of recruitment offers." Lucy would have thanked him...if he'd had any clothes on. She still needed to get used to that little habit of his.

Without missing a beat, Loki appeared beside the teen, "Lucy, would you like to form a Love Team with me?" He asked sidling up to her, "Just the two of us?"

"See?" Gray said, grinning.

Lucy brushed man off, "No way."

Gray took a drag from hi cigarette and blew it out, "I heard you defeated two wizards from the Southern Wolves Mercenary Guild, and a large, gorilla-like woman, right?" Gray asked, looking at the blonde, impressed, "You're really something."

"Uh..." Lucy fidgeted, "I guess I did take down the woman...but Natsu got the other two..." She said, feeling guilty for what she did to Virgo in her possessed state.

Hearing that Natsu had gotten two out of the three targets, Gray immediately latched onto Natsu's scarf, snarling, "It was you, bastard!"

"You got a problem with it?!" Natsu growled right back.

"Um...Gray, you're outfit..." Mirajane pointed out.

Gray looked down at himself, "ARGH! I forgot it again!"

Natsu scoffed, "What a pain in the ass."

"Did you just call me a pain in the ass, you flaming piece of shit!?" Gray roared, punching the Dragon Slayer in the face.

"A massive pain in the ass, ya perverted punk!" Natsu retaliated by through him to the ground, and driving his fist into his stomach while Gray kicked him in the side. As the ensuing brawl spilled out into the Guild, Lucy shook her head.

Really, she should have been used to this at least by now, but the sudden brawls always surprised her. And so did Loki's flirtations. "You're really beautiful," he said, and he had to be using some sort of Charm magic to get those stupid sparkles to float around his face, "Even looking through the dark shades of my sunglasses, you're still beautiful."

Lucy tried her best to ignore him, knowing that he usually had two or more women on his arm at a time, "Thanks." She said, going back to her drink, considering taking the job she'd taken down from the board.

"If I looked at you with my naked eyes they'd probably shatter into pieces." Loki said, still trying to gain her affections.

Lucy huffed as a large sweat drop appeared on her face, "Then by all means, take those off." She said, looking at Mirajane, "Hey, Mira, I think I'll take this one. It's close by, and worth good money."

"Okay!" Mirajane said happily.

Loki was about to try again when he spotted Lucy's Gate Keys, and froze, "Y-You're a Celestial Spirit Wizard!?"

"Yup," Lucy said without turning around.

"She's got crabs, and bulls, and stuff!" Happy put in with a raise of his paw.

Loki, surprising both Lucy and Happy, completely freaked out, "Oh, what a cruel twist of fate!" He yelled dramatically clutching at his chest, before turning tail and running out of the Guild Hall, "I'm sorry, but this is the end of us!"

Lucy grumbled, "When was there ever an "us" to begin with?" She asked, turning back to the bar, "What the hell was that all about, anyway?"

Mirajane giggled, "He's just not really good with Celestial Spirit wizards is all," she said, "I bet something happened in the past with a Celestial Wizard he dated, and things ended badly."

Meanwhile Natsu was pinned to the floor with his legs around Gray waist in an attempt to through him off. "Shoudl we stop them?" Lucy asked, pointed to the boys.

"Naw," Mirajane said, "I think it's kind of cute watching them wrestle like that."

Just then Loki came running back into the hall, "Ah, great, the pervert's back."

He saw Natsu and Gray brawling on the floor and paled, "Oh, crap, Natsu, Gray, stop fighting right now!"

"What?" Natsu growled.

"Why?" Gray asked.

Loki took a breath, and yelled, "ERZA'S BACK!"

"WHAT!?" The two fighters roared.

The doors to the Guild burst open, revealing a woman with scarlet hair in a heart kruiz armor. Over her shoulder she carried a massive piece of horn. Activety inside the Guild Hall had stopped altogether as the woman came into the hall, all of them looking terrified. Loki was slowly slinking toward the door, "I think I'm gonna go home now." He said, and bolted.

With a tremendous thud, she set the horn down, showing that it was decorated with gold and jewels. "I'm back." She said tonelessly, "Is Master present at the moment?"

Mirajane just beamed at her, "Welcome back!" She said to her friend, "The Master's attending the Regular Meeting right now, so he's gone to Clover."

"I see..." the woman said.

"Hey, Erza," one of the guys said, "What is that huge thing you brought with you?"

Erza looked the horn, "Hmm, you mean this?" She said, and smiled, "It's the horn of a demon beast I defeated," she said, patting the item, "The villagers were so grateful that they decorated it for me. It was so pretty that I had to bring it back with me as a souvenir." She looked at the man that had spoken, "Will it be a nuisance?"

"Nah, we can fix a spot for it somewhere in the Guild Hall if you'd like." He said, "Sort'a like a center piece, right?"

Erza smiled at him, "That's very nice, thank you." She said, and frowned, "However, I've heard you've all been causing trouble again," she said, "Even if the master forgives you, I will not!"

Lucy almost flinched at the harshness in her voice, "Who is she?" She asked, Happy, "She's really pretty, but I've never seen her in Sorcerer Weekly."

"That's Erza," Happy said, "She's really strong."

"Cana," she said to the bikini-topped girl, "That is an improper drinking posture, and it is far too early to be drinking so much." She turned to the dancing wizard, "Visitor, take the dancing outside before you know the tables over. And Wakaba, stop throwing your cigarette butts all over the floor, and take it outside!"

"Nav, are you still standing in front of the request board," Erza said to the man, "Just pick a job already!"

Lucy frowned, "Whoa, she's tearing into everyone."

"By the way," Erza said, "Are Natsu and Gray here?"

"Aye!" Happy said, gesturing to the pair.

Lucy looked over at the two, and was surprised to see the previously brawling pair now with their arms around the other's shoulders, "H-hey, Erza," Gray stammered out, sweating badly, "W-we're b-being good to each other as always!"

"AYE!" Natsu squeaked in a bad imitation of Happy.

Lucy nearly burst out laughing, ' _Oh, I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this!_ ' She thought with he cheeks puffed out.

"I see," Erza said, smiling, "But even the best of friends sometimes fight once in a while, but I'd rather see you two being good to each other like that all the time."

"Well, I've told you before that we're not the best of friends," Gray said, still sweating.

"Aye!" Natsu said.

Lucy giggled, "I've never seen Natsu acting like this!" She snickered.

"It's because Natsu and Gray are scared of Erza," Mirajane giggled, "Natsu picked a fight with her and got beaten up pretty badly," she said, causing the girl to look at the red-hair in surprise, "And then she found Gray walking around naked and beat him up, too."

"Oh, my..." Lucy giggled.

"And then Loki tried hitting on her, and nearly got himself killed." Mirajane said, her lip twitching.

That did it for Lucy as the two women burst out laughing. "I think I'm gonna like her, a lot."

Erza was looking at the two laughing girls in confusion, and turned back to the two boys, "I'm happy you two are getting along," she said, smiling at the two, "I actually have a favor I need to ask of you." She explained, "I've heard some troubling rumors that I would usually consult the master with, but I regard this matter as quite urgent." She said, placing her hands on her hips, "So I need your help," she said, shocking the pair, "You'll come with me, right?"

Even Mirajane was shocked by this. Lucy heard around the room that Erza never teamed up with anyone. "Erza teaming up with Gray and Natsu," the white-haired barmaid muttered, "This might just be the strongest team in Fairy Tail!"

=Meanwhile=

In the far reached of Fiore lay the Dark Guild, Eisenwald. Surrounded by dead trees, and crumbling, the building was a ruined castle. Inside could be heard the laughter of the Guild members.

"Which Guild is that woman from?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"She's gorgeous...shit! I really should've made a move on her!"

There was laughter, "You wouldn't stand a chance!"

"WHAT!"

Down the ruined halls strode a tall, dark figure with a large scythe in his hands, "Is Kageyama back, yet?" The figure asked.

The three men that had been laughing looked at the man, "Not yet, Boss," said a man in a striped hat, "It's not an easy task to break of that 'thing', so it really can't be helped."

The "Boss" grinned widely, "This ain't the time to hesitate," he said, "Now is our chance, since those old geezers are at their Regular Meeting, now it the perfect time to end them!"

=Magnolia Station=

The train stations of Magnolia were always a bustling hive of activity, day in and day out. Today, however, it was much more lively than normal. Why you ask...well...It seems the strongest team could possibly be the evilest team.

"Why does that monster, Erza, need our help?" Natsu growled.

"How would I know?" Gray snapped, "But if she does need help, I should've been enough!" Both Guild members were face to face, ready for a fight. Which is exactly what they did. As soon as they got into the train station, a brawl started up with Natsu throwing the first punch.

"Then why don't you go by yourself!" Natsu roared, socking him in the jaw, "I don't wanna go!"

Gray retaliated by punching him in the head, "Fine, then don't come! Get yourself killed by Erza when you do!"

Lucy, sitting on a bench with little Plue in her arms, sighed, "Will you guys just shut up?" She said, "You're causing trouble for everyone!" Her words caused them to stop and look at her for a moment, "Jeez, why can't you guys get along?"

"Mira asked me to come along and keep an eye on you two," Lucy huffed, "She knew you two would start trouble and wanted me here to knock some sense into you...and I was all fired up and ready to go on my first solo job, too!" She whined, and found the the boys were at it again. Lucy sighed, but a thought struck her, "Oh, hey, Erza, this way!"

The boys yelped, and slung their arms around each other, "Let's get along good buddy!" Gray said loudly.

"Aye!"

Lucy, Happy, and Plue cracked up.

"You tricked us!" Gray and Natsu said angrily.

Giggling, Lucy smiled at them, "You two really can get along, huh?"

"Ah, so you're here already?" Erza's voice drifted to them.

Lucy turned around and her jaw dropped at what Erza was lugging behind her. "Whoa, so much luggage!"

Erza turned to her, "Hmm? You were at the Guild Hall yesterday, weren't you?"

Lucy nodded and gave a short bow, "I'm a new member, Lucy," she said, introducing herself, "Mirajane asked me to tag along, so I'll try to be useful."

Erza smiled at the younger girl, "I'm Erza, it's nice to meet you," she said, looking the girl over, realizing something, "Oh, I see, you're the one that people were talking about in the Guild." She said as Lucy gave a little embarrassed blush, "I heard you took down a mercenary gorilla...you're very promising."

Lucy sighed, "Those facts are slightly twisted."

"Hey, Erza," Natsu said, coming up to the woman, "I'll go along with you, but only on one condition."

Gray sweated, "You idiot, what are you thinking!"

"A condition?" Erza asked calmly, "Say it, then."

Natsu stood tall, his face serious, "When we come back, I want a rematch," he said, shocking Lucy, "I'm a lot stronger than the last time we fought."

"Hey!" Gray shouted, "Don't rush into things like that! You wanna die!?"

' _Is he crazy?!_ ' Lucy thought, looking between the two wizards, knowing that Erza was in a league of her own. But the woman just smiled at the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, "You've certainly grown since we last fought," she said, tucking her hair behind her left ear, "While I'm not very confident in myself, I'll accept your challenge."

Natsu felt a vein throb on his head, "What d'ya mean you're not confident!?" He roared, "Fight me seriously, dammit!"

"I know, gut you're strong, Natsu," she said, giggling, "I just wanted to say that."

Lucy giggled slightly as Natsu's head lit up in flames. "Whoo, yeah, I'm all fired up now!"

The train arrived then, and Natsu forlornly made his way on board, "Man, what I would give to know that spell Naruto cast on me," he groaned.

Lucy giggled, and went to board herself, but found her path blocked by a large wall of muscle. She bounced off the person in front of her, and landed on her butt. "Oops, sorry about that," the person said, "I didn't see you."

"No, no, it was my fault, I - " She looked up to see a familiar mop of shaggy blond hair and blue eyes with just as much surprise in them as her own, "Naruto!?"

"Lucy?!" Naruto said, surprised evident on his face as he reached down to help her up, "What are you doing here?"

"Tagging along with Natsu and Gray to keep them out of trouble," she said, dusting herself up, "We're helping out one of our Guild members with something."

"And who is this?" Erza asked from behind them, her arms crossed, "Is he harassing you, Lucy?"

Lucy held up her hands in defense, "No, this is another member of Fairy Tail that joined the same time I did!" She said hurriedly, "He's also my roommate, and teacher!"

Naruto gave a short bow to the woman, "Nice to meet you, the name's Naruto Uzumaki."

Erza looked the young wizard up and down, noticing the two swords he carried, and the wrapped shaft of something else held in his hands, "Fine, he can come as well."

"Eh?" Naruto said before the woman boarded the train, dragging him along with her, "H-hey, wait a minute!"

Lucy giggled, "Um, sorry, Naruto...just go with it...please?"

"What choice do I have!?" Naruto roared, "And stop dragging me, dammit, I can walk on my own, ya know!"

When the started into the car, Naruto showed off his new cloak by placing his swords and the wrapped item inside of it, showing the inner workings of the cloak to be a void space which he used to store his luggage and weapons. Upon seeing him, Natsu looked like he'd just won the lottery. But before he could plead with him for the spell that would stop his motion sickness, the train started moving, making Natsu instantly sick.

Naruto and Lucy sat side by side as Erza took up the end of the seat. "Sorry, Natsu, but I think it's time Lucy tried her hand as some Celestial Magic," he said, gesturing to the younger blonde, "Think you could remember it?"

Lucy blushed under his gaze, looking down at her lap, "I remember the incantation, but I don't think I should - "

Naruto reached up and placed his hand on top of her head, "Hey, have a little more confidence, Lu," he smiled crookedly, making her heart take off faster than a rabbit with a fox after it. "Just focus you magic, and concentrate on moving it over Natsu, and the incantation will do the rest, okay?"

Lucy nodded nervously and raised her hands towards Natsu, " _I call upon the power to expel the unclean and impure,_ " a white glow appeared around her form, and focused on her hands, " _Purify!_ " The glowing white magic spread from her palms and over to Natsu. It covered him for a moment before it disappeared. Natsu immediately sat up, looking much better. "I-I did it!"

"I'll say ya did it!" Natsu grinned, slamming his fists together, "I feel awesome, Lucy, thanks!"

Naruto grinned down at his apprentice, "See? I told you that you'd be able to do it." He reached up and patted her on the head again, smiling. He then looked over her head at the red-haired woman, "Now, why don't you tell me what I've just been dragged into?"

* * *

 _ **A quick little update introducing Erza and Naruto, who is dragged along, literally, with the group in search of a threat. What was the request Naruto had flown out the door so quickly for? And how will the others react to his magic?**_

 ** _Be prepared as Naruto goes on the attack!_**

 ** _Please review!_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**7: Lullaby**_

* * *

Erza sighed as all eyes turned to her. The blond man had gone straight to the point of the matter, which she liked. "Well then, let me explain," she said, crossing her arms, "I was on my way back from my previous job when I stopped by a bar in Onibas, where wizards tend to gather, and some of them happened to catch my attention."

Naruto sat back in his seat, looking across at the woman over Lucy's head. "There were four of them," Erza went on, and they were a rather unruly bunch. But I did overhear them speaking of a 'Forbidden Lullaby'. They also mentioned a familiar name to me, Erigor, wizard in Eisenwald."

"And this Lullaby," Lucy said from her spot between Naruto and Erza, "Is it some kind of magic that puts people to sleep?"

Erza only shrugged, "I don't know, but seeing as it was 'sealed', it must contain some kind of powerful magic."

Naruto looked over at her, "Could it have been a job they were finishing up?" He asked, the name "Lullaby" sounding slightly familiar. "I mean, they do need to make money somehow."

"True, that is what I thought, and I wasn't going to pay it anymore attention," she said, frowning, "That is until I recalled what Erigor was famous for," she said, clenching her fists, "Erigor is the Ace Wizard of Eisenwald, nicknamed the Death God, because he only takes assassination requests," she said, her face darkening, "The Council prohibits such requests, but Eisenwald didn't care, so Erigor was free to do as he pleased." The train pulled into the Onibas station, allowing the five wizards to disembark.

"Crap," Natsu frowned, "I forgot my pack, I'll be right back!" He said, and ran back onto the train.

"Don't take too long, Natsu, it's about to leave again," Naruto called back over his shoulder, turning back to the red-head, "Erza, I'm new to the mainland, but wasn't Eisenwald kicked out of the Guild Leagues a while back?"

"They were," Erza nodded, "And they were also order to disband after their Master was arrested, but they continued on, and are now branded as a Dark Guild."

" _Dark Guild_?!" She squeaked, taking a hold of her mentor's sleeve, a small amount of sweat beading her brow, "But should we really be dealing with people like _that_?"

"How come they haven't been arrested, then?" Naruto asked, frowning, "If this Guild's gone Dark, then shouldn't the Council _do_ something about it?"

"They _are_ trying," Erza frowned, "Though most of the Guilds that are Dark have been cast out of the League just as Eisenwald was, so it doesn't matter to them how or what they do, as long as its beneficial to the Guild, or whoever's in charge. They ignore any orders given by the Magic Council."

Lucy crept back toward the train, only to be grabbed by Naruto, "And just _where_ do you think you're going?" He asked with a slight smirk.

Lucy trembled, "I think I should go home."

Naruto's smirk turned into a full blown grin and swept the girl over his shoulder, startling a shriek out of her, "Oh, no you're not," he said as he headed back to the group with her kicking and flailing, "You got me into this, so there's no way you're getting out of it."

"P-put me down!" Lucy yelped as the crowd around the station stared at them, most of the grinning at the display, "Naruto, this is embarrassing!"

"Tough cookies," Naruto smirked.

Happy flew moved over to the pair, "You wanna know what's really embarrassing?" Happy asked, point at them, "You can see Lucy's panties!"

" _Hieeek_!" Lucy shrieked, pushing off of his shoulder and getting back on her feet, her hands holding down the back of her skirt. Naruto looked red as an apple as Lucy glared at him. "You saw, didn't you?"

"Nope, not a thing," Naruto walked right passed her.

"Liar," Lucy pouted, but stopped as Naruto turned back to her, "What?"

Naruto grinned, "Stripes, huh?"

"You _did_ see!" Lucy yelled. Naruto cackled and raced ahead of her as she gave chase, only to nearly run right into Erza's luggage.

"There you two are," Gray said, looking around the pair of them, "Where's that stupid pyro?"

Naruto looked confused, and looked down at Happy, "Didn't he come back off the train?"

"I didn't see him." The little cat said, shrugging his shoulders, "But the train left a few minutes ago."

Erza suddenly rushed forward and headbutted the blond wizard, "You idiot, you were supposed to look after him!"

Naruto rubbed the lump on his head, "Who said _I_ was going to do that!" He roared, "I just told him to hurry up!" He said, and turned to Lucy, "I'm gonna go find Natsu, and get him off that stupid train." He said, jerking his thumb back at Erza, "You stay with the nut job, and keep them out of trouble."

"Why me?" Lucy shivered.

" _You_ , I trust," he said, patting her on the head comfortingly, " _Her_ , not so much." He then rushed off toward the train tracks, "I'll be back in a few minutes!"

Erza followed after him, "We're going to stop the train."

" _Eh_?!" Lucy yelped as Erza stormed passed her.

=x=

Natsu staggered to the nearest seat. "Dammit, that spell Lucy used must've worn off," he groaned, his stomach rolling, "Shit, I didn't expect the train to start moving so soon!" He sat down, and began the long wait for the train to stop again. "I'll just have to get off at the next station, shit, Erza's gonna kill me for sure this time."

He settled in to wait, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible, hating the weakness he was feeling."Excuse me," someone said, "Is this seat taken?" Natsu slowly shook his head. The person sat down, Natsu keeping his eyes closed against the pain in his stomach. "My, my, my, you seem to be in a lot of pain," he said, "Are you okay?"

Natsu remained quiet, not trusting himself to speak without hurling.

"Fairy Tail." The man went on, "A normal Guild, huh?" He said, leaning over in his seat. "I kind of envy that."

=x=

"Please, it's our friend, so stop the train," Erza insisted, but the station manager was having none of it.

The man shook his head, glaring at the girl, "Stop talking nonsense," he sneered, "We can't stop the train for one person that didn't manage to get off!"

Over his head, Erza spied the emergency shut off switch, and gestured to Happy, "Happy, shut it down!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy said, flying up to the switch.

There was a screeching sound of the alarm going off, which alarmed several people, but Erza was undaunted. "Let's go after Natsu," she said before turning to an attendant, "Excuse us, but please deliver this to 'Hotel Chili'."

Lucy frowned, palming her face, "This is turning into a really big mess," she sighed, "I should've taken that stupid job and gotten the reward."

"Where's the fun in that?" Gray asked, sans apparel.

"What the hell happened to your clothes?!"

Meanwhile, back on the train...

"Speaking of Fairy Tail," Natsu's guest prattled on, "Mirajane's famous, isn't she? She's in the magazine's sometimes, and she's beautiful." He said, Natsu listening to take his mind off of his stomach, "You know, I wonder why she's not active anymore? I mean, she's still young." He went on, "And I don't know her name, but I hear that there's a new girl that's pretty cute." He said, "Do you know her?"

Natsu nodded, his breathing becoming labored.

"You know, I've noticed that regular Guilds have a lot of cute girls," he said, "I envy you that...there aren't any girls in my Guild...would you mind sharing some of yours?" He said, and stood up, Natsu's eyes cracking up just in time to see him raise his foot level with his face "Or so I'd like to say!"

Natsu snarled as his foot came into contact with his face. The man sneered at him, "Now you can stop fucking ignoring me," he laughed, "It's discriminatory towards _Dark Guilds_!"

Natsu was knocked out of his seat, and tried to stand, but the man just came at him again, kicking him in the ribs. "You wanna know what we call Fairy Tail wizards in my Guild?" He asked, kicking him again, and again, "Flies! You're nothing but a bunch of flies to be swatted!"

"I'd like to see you try it!" A streak of white smashed through the side of the train, slamming into the Dark Guild member, and sending him into the other wall, " _Purify!_ " Natsu recognized that voice as the familiar white glow surrounded him, immediately taking his motion sickness away.

Natsu got to his feet, furious, but before he could start his attack, the train suddenly lurched, and came to a grinding halt, throwing the three wizards about in the car.

The wizard, Naruto saw, was a man with pale skin, and black hair tied up in a ponytail, his bag flew from his shoulder, and clattered to the floor, popping open. Something clattered to the floor as the bag fell, and both Fairy Tail wizards saw a...flute...a frightening flute to be sure. It was shaped like a skull, and had three eyes above a grim grin.

"What the heck is that?" Natsu grumbled.

"You saw?!" The Dark Wizard yelped, and scrabbled for the bag and the flute.

Natsu growled, "Shut up," he said, flames roaring from his fists.

Naruto stepped forward, his hands inside his cloak, "I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he said, drawing out Caliburn, "Now, what Guild are you from?"

The wizard crouched down, wary of the sword, but grinned as Naruto and Natsu stood close together, "None of your business, Fairy Flies!" Suddenly a massive tendril of shadow erupted from beneath them, and blasted Naruto right in the gut, tossing him into Natsu. Naruto nearly lost his grip on the sword in his shock at being hit so suddenly, but the shadows wrapped themselves around the pair, and flung them toward the hole he had made.

The train continued on as the two wizards were blasted out of the wall, thrown into the ground, and tumbled to a stop in a heap.

"Gah, what the hell was that?!" Natsu roared, his mouth flaming, "Next time I see that bastard, I'm gonna roast his nuts!"

Naruto groaned, "Natsu, get off of me!" He said, and tried to get up, his sword now stabbing into his leg. "Shit that hurts!"

"Jeez!" Natsu got up and turned him over on his back, "Looks like it missed the bone. Can you heal something like this?"

Naruto nodded, "No sweat." He groaned as Natsu helped to remove the blade, "The sword was just absorbing my magic too much for me to try."

The pink-haired Dragon Slayer watched as Naruto passed his left hand over the wound, and was astonished to see the flesh and cloth stitch themselves back together.

"What the hell do you think that was all about?" Natsu asked as the blond wizard stood up, dusting himself, off, "I mean the guy said he was from a Dark Guild, and then there was that freaky flute."

Naruto frowned, "Dark Guild, huh?" He asked, looking at the young man, "Natsu, I think that was the guy we were looking for."

"Ya think?"

Naruto nodded, "Come, we'd better go find the others before they start to worry, and then we need to get some info from Erza," he said, heading back toward the train station, "She might know that guy."

Natsu turned toward the direction they had come, and grinned, "Looks like we don't have to walk very far," he said, pointing toward a dusk cloud that was coming toward them, "Here they come!"

Naruto sighed in relief as he saw a magic vehicle speeding toward them, Lucy hanging out of the window waving at them while Gray was situated on the roof from some reason. Erza pulled the vehicle to a stop, "Natsu, Naruto, are you two alright?"

The two wizards looked at each other, "Well..." Naruto started.

"We got our butts whooped," Natsu sighed, crossing his arms, "I think we ran into one of those Eisenwald dicks you were talkin' about."

"Did you catch him?" Erza asked.

Naruto gestured to themselves; both of them were dirty, and scuffed up from their role on the ground, "Do we look like we have a prisoner?" The blond asked, "Seriously, the guy sucker punched us after we got the drop on him." He said, earning a glare from the red-head, "Now, you mentioned something about a 'forbidden lullaby', right?" Erza nodded, "Well, that guy freaked out after we saw something he was carrying."

"Yeah," Natsu chimed in, "He had this freaky lookin' flute that had a skull on the end of it, a skull with three eyes."

Gray looked at the pair, "Three eyes? Well that's gross."

Naruto nodded, but noticed that Lucy had stopped after she'd gotten out of the vehicle, and was trembling. "Lucy? Are you alright?" He asked, going over to her.

"A flute with a three-eyed skull," she said, deathly pale. "No...it _can't_ be...that was just a made up story, but..."

"Lucy!" Naruto said loud, growing worried, "What's wrong? Talk to me!"

Lucy snapped out of it, looking at her mentor, and friends as they all looked at her in worry. "I think I know what it is...If that flute is the 'Cursed Song'...Lullaby...sleep...death." She looked at Erza, "That flute _is_ the lullaby! Lullaby, the magic of ' _Death_ '!"

"What?!" Erza gasped, looking at her in shock.

Gray looked at the blonde, "What do you mean by a cursed song?" He asked while Natsu looked confused.

Naruto looked at the girl, "I think I know...go on, Lucy." He prompted.

The girl nodded, "Well, I've only ever read about it in a book," she said, frowning, "But there is such a thing as 'murder by curse' among forbidden magic, right?"

Erza nodded, "Yes...just like the name, it'll curse the target and cast 'death'." She said, her face darkening as she spoke, "It's _black_ magic."

Lucy shook her head, "Lullaby is _worse_ than that."

=Kunugi Station=

The Kunugi train station was in an uproar.

Wizards had invaded the station and were rounding up the civilians, and non-magic users. One man seemed to be in charge. He was tall, and carried a large scythe over his shoulder. He was shirtless, and bore several swirling black tattoos on his chest, back and shoulders. "Get all of the people and the driver off of the train," he said to his men, "Eisenwald is taking over."

Drivers and passengers alike were driven from the train as the man boarded, smiling as he came across the last passenger aboard, "I heard that you were gonna come back on this train, so we've been waiting for you, Kageyama."

The man smiled at him, his hair slicked back into a spiked ponytail. "I managed to break the seal," he chuckled, reaching into his bag, and producing the malevolent flute, "This is it."

The man grinned and took the flute from him, "I see...so this is the Forbidden Magic," he said, grasping the flute in hand, "Lullaby."

All around them, the members of their Guild roared with laughter and approval, "Good job, Kageyama!"

"Now the plan is complete!"

"This flute was just a tool for 'murder by curse' at first," the leader said, "But the great Black Wizard, Zeref, developed it even further into a magic flute." He said, smiling widely, "Indeed, he created such a terrible thing." He said, turning to his men, "The 'mass murder curse', Lullaby," he laughed, "That puts a death curse on everyone who hears its melody!" He spread his arms out wide, "Get this thing rolling boys! It's time for the show to begin!"

=x=

The magic vehicle pulled into the train station to find it in shambles where crowds of outraged and frightened people were complaining to the Rune Knights about the atrocities that had happened. Lucy was looking down from the window, "They took over the train?!"

"Jeez," Naruto frowned, looking out over her head, "These guys must be insane."

Lucy nodded, looking up at him, "I can understand a horse-drawn carriage, or a maybe even a boat, but a train?"

"Aye," Happy commented, "It can only run on the rails, so it's not very beneficial to take over, huh?"

Gray started shrugging out of his jacket, "Yeah, but it's got speed," he said, pulling his shirt over his head, "Maybe they're in a hurry to carry something out they've got planned?"

"Why are you taking you clothes off?" Naruto groaned. "Now is so not the time!"

Lucy sighed, leaning on the window frame, "Well the military forces are already on the case, so it's probably just a matter of time before they're all arrested." She said, sounding hopeful.

From the front of the vehicle, Erza frowned, "I certainly hoe you're right, Lucy." She said, and stepped on the gas, "Hang on!"

The vehicle torn through town at break-neck speeds, Gray hanging on for dear life, while Natsu enjoyed the ride for once thanks to Naruto's spell. Naruto on the other hand was feeling exactly the same as Natsu would when he didn't cast the spell. He was turning green around the gills, "Oh, boy, remind me never to let her drive again!" He groaned as Lucy held his head in her lap, "Lucy, why is the cab spinning?"

Lucy gave him a nervous smile as the vehicle lurched again, "J-just try to bare with it a little while longer, okay?"

"Erza!" Gray shouted as they crashed into a food cart, "We're going way too fast! The S.E. plug is inflating!"

Erza just poured more magic into the plug, "If someone plays that flute, then there's no telling how many people are going to die, Gray," she said evenly as she sped through the town, "Human lives are at stake here all because of a flute!"

"I know that, but right now we don't even know what they're up to!" Gray shouted back, "And since we might end up fighting with them, you should probably slow it down and save your strength for when that happens!"

Erza frowned, "I don't care," she said, "If push comes to shove, I'll just grab something to use as a club and fight with that!" Smiling at bit, she turned and glanced at the people behind her, "Besides, I still have you guys to back me up, right?"

"Damn right ya do!" Natsu hollered, knocking his fists together, "I can't wait to get some payback on that creep with the shadows!"

Naruto sat up and looked out the window, his sickness slowing for the moment, but his eyes widened as he saw smoke in the distance. "What's that?!"

"It's Oshibana station," Erza said, stepping on the gas even harder. Moments later they skidded to a halt in the back of a large crowd of people. The red-head, followed by Natsu and Gray with Lucy and Naruto bringing up the rear, barged her way through the crowd. "What's going on?!" She demanded of the first employee she encountered.

"Who the hell are you - Gah!" She headbutted him, and moved on to the next, only to repeat the process.

Naruto groaned, palming his face, "I guess she like people who answer right on cue, huh?"

"Now you know her better," Gray commented, "Let's get inside, we'll probably find out faster."

Erza seemed to agree with this coarse of action, and hurried inside. "Hey, don't go alone!" Naruto called out, only to have Natsu brush right by him, "Oh, come on!"

"Race ya!" Natsu yelled out.

"Aye!" Happy said, flying by.

Gray followed after them, leaving Naruto and Lucy staring after them. The blond sighed, "Well..." he said, following after them with Lucy slowly bringing up the rear.

What the found inside, however, was far worse than they could have thought.

It was the military...all of them _dead_.

Natsu clenched his fists in anger while flames licked up from his knuckles, "Those bastards!"

Lucy hid her face in Naruto's shoulder while the elder blond gulped to hold back his bile while his own anger began to boil over. "How can they do this to people?" He asked, "They weren't even wizards, they were defenseless!"

"Let's hurry up," Gray said, "The platform's this way!" He said, heading down one of the halls. They ran after him as he rounded a corner, and nearly blundered into him.

"I knew you'd come," a grim voice spoke up as they found themselves face to face with the entire Guild responsible for the carnage in the station. "Fairy Tail."

Lucy shivered and hid partially behind Naruto, "W-what's with all of these people?"

Naruto held up his arm slightly, shielding her, "Just stay behind me," he said, reaching into his cloak, drawing Caliburn from its sheath.

The man that had spoken sat above them, a scythe on his shoulders, "We've been waiting for you."

"You Erigor, aren't you?" Erza said, stepping forward.

"Hey," man with whisker marks similar to Naruto's spoke up, "You're that armor girl from the other day."

"I guess she's the one that leaked out our plans," a rotund man said.

Kageyama looked furious, "You fucking _flies_ ," he growled savagely, "It's all because of _you_!"

"Calm down Kage," one of the men said.

Naruto stepped around Erza, his sword held firmly in his grasp, "What the hell are you planning, Erigo?" He asked, his eyes seeming to glow with power, "And you'd better have a good answer for the men down stairs."

"Hmm?" Erigor hummed, considering the young man, "Oh, you know," he said carelessly, "We just want to fool around. We didn't have any jobs, and we were all bored as hell."

All of his men started laughing uproariously as their leader lifted off of the train and into the air. "Don't you fools understand?" He asked, "What do they have inside of a train station?"

"H-He flew!" Lucy gasped.

Happy floated up beside her, "That's Wing Magic!"

Erza considered his words, "Station..." She said as he floated up to the broadcasting speakers, "Are you going to broadcast Lullaby?!"

"Bingo." Erigor laughed madly as did the rest of his men, "There are hundreds, no, thousands of people gathering to this station even as we speak! If we broadcast the Lullaby's melody loud enough maybe even the entire town will how our sweet melody of death!"

Naruto's blade began to glow brightly, "You murdering bastard!"

Erigo turned about in the air, grinning madly, "We're just cleaning up the fools that live their lives enjoying their rights," he said, slowly turning end over end in the air, "When they don't even know that there are people who have been revoked of their rights!"He turned to look at them while he was upside down, "I beleive that living a life that is oblivious to the unfairness of the world is a sin," he said, smiling down at the Fairy Tail wizards, "Thus, I, the God of Death, has come to punish them!" He cackled, "A punishment called 'DEATH'!"

"Your rights will never be returned if you do something so horrible," Lucy shouted at the man, speaking up for the first time against the man, "Besides, you're the bad guy in first place!"

"And a hypocrite!" Naruto snarled, "You're taking away the peoples' rights to live! A right shared by every living creature in this world!"

Erigo looked at the two blondes for a moment, then grinned, "How cute," he grinned, "Now that we've come this far it's not the 'right' that we seek, it's the 'authority'. If we have the 'authority', then we can wipe the past clean and control the future."

"You're such a fool!" Lucy shouted, going for her Gate Keys.

"Such a pity," Kageyama sneered, slamming his hand into the floor, "for you little flies to die without getting a glimpse of the Dark Age!"

A gigantic hand made of shadow erupted from the floor beneath Lucy, forcing a scream from her as Erza and Gray cursed.

"NATSU!" Naruto roared, appearing in front of Lucy, cleaving the Shadow appendage in half as the Dragon Slayer rocketed forward.

"It's payback time!" Natsu roared, "We're on a real battle ground this time, ya punk!"

Kageyama lept back, avoiding the blow, and landed among his Guild. Erigor smirked, "There's someone I must put to death!"

Naruto roared forth, leaping into the air at the Wind user, "Give me that flute, Erigor!" He roared, his blade swinging in a wide arc as light flew from the magic sword. The Light crashed into the ceiling as the man dodged easily.

He laughed, looking down at his men surrounding the wizards, "I'll leave the rest to you guys." He said, floating away from the impending battle, "Have fun."

Naruto looked furious as the man fled the battle. "ERIGOR!"

* * *

 ** _And Naruto is pissed. Look forward to the next chapter, because our favorite_** ** _blond is about to cut loose!_**

 ** _Please review!_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Back into the magical mayhem!**_

 _ **8: The Wizard of Light!**_

* * *

Naruto's furious roar bounced off the walls of the train station as Erigor burst through one of the windows to escape. He made to follow him but was cut off by the rest of Eisenwald's guild members. The blond bit back a growl, "Natsu, Gray, you two go after Erigor, I'll stay here and take care of these guys," he said, casting his eyes over his shoulder at Lucy, "Lucy, I want you to take care of Erza," he said, shocking the two females.

Erza growled, "I do not need looking after!"

Naruto turned back to the Dark Guild men, "Tell me that when you can stand without wobbling from foot to foot," he said loudly, causing the three other Fairy Tail members to look at the red-head in equal amounts of shock, "Use anymore of you magic, and you'll topple over."

Lucy went to support the weakened mage, "Don't worry, I'll make sure she recovers quickly," the younger blonde affirmed, much to Erza's embarrassment as her arm was slung over Lucy's shoulders.

"This is unnecessary," Erza repeated, "I can take care of myself well enough, and you'll need help with these men."

Naruto just turned to the two girls and smiled crookedly, "Oh, no I won't, believe it!" He said, causing both of them to blush slightly, one more than the other, and turned to Natsu and Gray, who were butting heads, "Are you two still here!?" The blond roared, "MOVE YOUR ASSES!"

"Yes Sir!" They yelped in fright from the blond's roar, and quickly hightailed it.

The Eisenwald mages growled as the Fire and Ice duo ran off, "Oi, two of them are running off!"

"Are they going after Erigor?"

One of the men chuckled, extending black bandages from his sleeves, "You leave them to me," he said, swinging into the rafters, "I'll get them!"

Kage knelt to the ground, his shadows expanding around them, "Me, too!" He growled as he began to sink into the darkness, "I can't forgive that pink-haired Fairy!"

Naruto rushed the shadow user, bringing Caliburn up in a high arc as the blade glowed with stored energy and let loose a stream of golden magic, "Get back here!" But it was too late as Kage sank beneath the floor, the attack left a small crater in the floor, but no Kage. "Damn, he got away!"

A man was cat-like whiskers on his face just grinned as the pair went their own way, "Oh, brother, Kage and Reyure were supposed to stay with us," he said, leering at the two girls, "But that just means we can take their turns with these cute little ladies they left behind."

"Gotta get passed me first," Naruto growled, turning his attention toward the group, "Who's first?"

The man beside the whiskered Eisenwald man grunted, "Yo, Beard, wasn't there something in the paper about a wizard from Fairy Tail with blond hair and blue eyes?" He asked.

"What's that got to do with this, Karraka?" Beard asked.

"I read he uses a magic never seen before," Karraka said, jerking his thumb at the young man, "Think this could be him?"

"Who cares?" One of the others asked, "Once we take care of him, then we care deal with these two girls!"

"Too bad we have to kill them," another said, "How 'bout we have a little fun with them first?"

Another one laughed, "Great idea, then we can sell'em at a good price!"

As they spoke, the blond in front of them had grown angrier with each word, his magical energy had begun to leak from his body is wisp-like streams. It swirled around him in his own personal storm in an amazing golden display that left Lucy breathless even though it meant, given that she'd never seen him in such a state, Naruto was furious.

Naruto's eyes were overshadowed by his golden bangs, his hand gripping Caliburn so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Erza herself was surprised at the amount of pressure that was coming from the young wizard, "What is this?"

"Celestial Magic," Lucy breathed out as the swirling storm around her friend and mentor took on a multi-colored hue, "It's so..."

"Pretty!" Happy chirped.

"No, it's frightening," Erza ground out, "That much magical output is foolhardy. Not even the Master puts out that much when he's angered."

As if on cue, Naruto shot forward, his blade flashing through the air in a wide arc as he struck the first man with the flat part of the blade, knocking him clean. He then rounded on the man immediately to his left and hit him with a palm-heel strike to the face, and round-housed another.

"What the hell are you guys doing!?" Beard roared as another one of their men went down courtesy of Naruto's blade, "He's just one guy, and he's not even using magic! Somebody kill this bastard!"

Naruto flashed the man a glare, his eyes shining brightly, "You want magic?" He asked quietly, his voice layered with fury, "I'll give ya magic." He took his blade in hand, settling it in the crooks of his thumbs, " _I call upon the majestic indigo ruler of the land,_ " A blue magic circle appeared above him, causing storm clouds to form inside the train station, much to their growing shock, " _Let loose thy churning tempest to engorge upon this, our misfortune,_ " Thunder rolled around them, and wind suddenly began to howl, forcing Lucy and Erza to back away as Naruto prepared to let loose the spell. " _Maelstrom_!"

With a clap of thunder, a cyclone of wind and water spiraled down, and split into seven different pillars, encircling the young mage, "Now go!" Naruto shouted. Violently, the cyclone roared out, taking up the surprised Eisenwald mages, throwing them about, and slamming them into each other and the walls.

"Damn this bastard," Beard growled as he held onto a pillar to keep himself on the ground, raising his hand to attack him, "I'll teach you to mess with Eisenwald!"

Lucy, barely able to catch what was said over the howling of the wind, saw what was going on with the Dark mage, instinctively raising her free hand, " _Seraphic Bolt!_ " The girl cried out as the blue circle of magic appeared at her palm, a similar circle appearing underneath the surprised Beard.

"What the -?! GAH!" Bolts of green, yellow and blue lightning erupted from the spell, shocking the mage to the floor.

Lucy looked on in surprise at her smoking palm, "D-did that come out of me?" She said, looking down at her hand, sparks of electricity still jumping between her fingers.

The storm calmed down as the unconscious bodies of the Eisenwald guild piled up, Naruto having finally calmed down, and sheathed his sword. "And that," he said, looking at the one remaining member still standing, "is what happens when you talk about my precious people like they're nothing but cattle to be sold for slaughter." He growled, holding out a beckoning hand toward Karraka, "Now, you gonna be next?"

Karraka paled and turned tail, running down the hall like a mad man.

Naruto scoffed, and turned toward the two girls, smiling, "Nice shot with that spell, Lucy," he grinned as he walked over to the girls, making the blonde blush with pride, and then looked at the red-head, "You doing any better?"

Erza frowned, but allowed a small turn to her lips in a small smirk, "I already told you I was fine," she said defiantly, "but that was good work, though you did let one of them get away. He could be going to warn Erigor."

Naruto shook his head, "No, I don't even think Erigor's still even in the train station," the Celestial mage frowned, looking up at the broken window the Wind mage had shattered in his escape, "If he was planning to use the broadcasting system, then he would have gotten there by now, considering he uses Wind magic to fly. It would've taken him no time at all."

Lucy looked surprised at realization hit her, "Hey, he's right, the broadcasting room is pretty close," she said, pursing her lips, "But if he's not going to do that, then what - ?"

"We'll probably have to ask one of these bozos a few questions," Naruto said, jerking his thumb at the downed mages. "First thing's first, though, we need to take care of the two that went after Natsu and Gray a few minutes ago." And Naruto wouldn't admit it, but the one that had fled was slightly worrying him. He was weak compared to his two friends, but that didn't mean he couldn't cause trouble for them.

Erza nodded, "Be that as it may, we should still evacuate the civilians that have gathered outside because of Eisenwald," she said, straightening up from Lucy's shoulder, "Thank you for the aid," she said to the blonde, smiling, "I'm going to go out and see if I can get them out of the area just to be on the safe side."

Naruto crossed his arms, giving her a look, "Don't over do it," the blond said, frowning, "Posture all you want, Erza, but i can tell that you're still running near empty. Pushing yourself too far could kill you, ya know?"

Erza smiled at him, "You don't need to worry about me, Naruto," she said, turning toward the exit, "Instead, you should worry about controling that temper of yours."

"Look who's talking," Naruto grumbled after her, and turned to Lucy, "You alright?"

Lucy nodded, "I'm fine, but what are we gonna do now?"

Naruto grinned and snapped his fingers. A small ball of light appeared at the tip of his finger, "Now, we tie these jerks up," he said, and pointed his finger at the Eisenwald Guild, the ball lifting away from the digit, and glowing over the downed mages. Lucy watched as they went up in a puff of smoke, and reappeared, trussed up like turkeys.

Naruto dusted his hands off, smirking, "That ought'a hold'em." He said, satisfied with his work.

She watched as the blond started off toward the entrance, "Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah?" He turned, giving her that lop-sided grin she both loved, and hated so much.

She shook herself despite the blush that threatened to rise to her cheeks, "Uh, how did I use that spell earlier?" She asked, "I remember Gae Bolg using that spell against you when it possessed me, but I didn't know I could - "

Naruto sighed, frowning, "It's because, Lucy, even though you were taken over by the spear, you were strong enough to bond with it, like I was with Caliburn and Durandal." Lucy looked both confused and horrified at the thought of being bound to such a dangerous artifact. Moreso when Naruto reached inside hid cloak and pulled out the familiar wrapped shaft of the demonic weapon. "This rightfully belongs to you."

Lucy backed away, her hands held up in a warding gesture, "I can't take that thing!" She yelped, "It'll take me over again like it did last time, and I'll attack you!"

Naruto chuckled, "No, you won't," he said, holding the spear out to her, "Why do you think I had this thing on me when we ran into each other at the train station?" He asked, grinning, "There was a job offer on the board that was set up by a famous curse-breaker, so I took it, and had him break the curse on Gae Bolg as my reward." He said as he began unwrapping the spear, no longer the crimson-red of blood, but now a shimmering mixture of red-gold. Even if she wasn't as strong a mage as she would like, Lucy could still sense the immense power coming from the spear itself.

"It's really gone?" Lucy breathed out in awe of the beautiful weapon, "But...why give it to me? I'm sure you could use it better than I could?"

Naruto shook his head, "When bonded with a person, Holy and Demonic weapons will only ever work properly for that one person until they die, or are passed on to the next in lineage, a son or a daughter. If I tried using this spear, it would probably shock the life from me before I could let go of it." He held the spear out for her, "I get that you're afraid of it, Lucy, and I don't blame you, seriously, I don't because this thing is a nasty piece of work."

Lucy looked like she'd take it for a moment, but then hesitated, "Naruto...I can't...that thing scares me..." she uttered feeling ashamed of herself. She fully expected the man to laugh at her. But it never came. Instead, she felt that familiar feeling of his hand resting on top of her head. The blush that rose to her cheeks at that gentle touch would've put Natsu's hair to shame if he were there.

"It's fine," Naruto said, making her look up at him, "I'll just hold onto it until you think you're ready. Just remember, if I'm not around, and you need help, Gae Bolg will come to you if you call for it."

"I hope I won't ever need to use it," she said, smiling slightly, ' _Because I always want you around._ '

=Now Meanwhile=

Regular Meeting Site for the Provincial Guild Masters...

Inside the meeting hall in Clover we find the building packed with the Masters of the Wizarding Guilds of Fiore. "Makarov," gushed a bald, rotund man in a pink tank-top, "I simply love the wizards at your Guild!" He said, smiling demurely, "They're all so darling!"

Sitting on a table next to the man was Makarov, knocking back a large mug of beer. "Yeah, I've gotten some really good ones this time around, Bob."

"I heard that they beat up a really influential man recently," Bob went on.

Makarov chuckled drunkenly, "Yeah, that'd be our newest members, Naruto and Lucy!" He laughed, "Those two are great! The girl has an especially good figure!"

"Oh, so naughty, Maki!" Bob tittered.

A man in a pointed witch's hat that had a spiked collar around it, and sunglasses sighed at the sight of the Fairy Tail Master, "It's good to be lively and all, Makarov, but don't you think you should knock off a little of the booze?"

"Knocking it back is better, Goldmine," Makarov grinned as a little bird fluttered up to him.

"Master Makarov, you have a message from Miss Mirajane," The bird chirped before handing off the letter and flying off.

' _Mira, huh,_ ' he thought before opening the letter, ' _Wonder what she could want?_ ' Little did Master Makarov know that the letter contained what was possibly the worst news he could possibly think of.

=Back with the Team=

Erza's eye widened as a sudden gust of wind picked up swirled around the train station, "This is..." she began to sweat visibly as the station became obscured by the dust kicked up by the wind, "How can this be -? The station's completely surrounded by wind!"

Dark laughter rippled from above her as Erigor floated down, his scythe over his shoulder, "Hmm, well, what's a little fly like you doing out here," he asked, looking around the empty square, "Aw, I bet you're the one that made all of the people run away, aren't you?"

"Erigor!" She snarled, "Are you responsible for this?!"

Erigor just sneered, and raised his hand toward her, "You know, I wanted to fight you just once," he said as wind swirled around his fingers, "But unfortunately, I just don't have the time." Erza was suddenly blasted into the wind barrier and trapped behind its walls, "So just stay inside my wind barrier, and be a good little girl."

Still weakened by the overuse of her magic, Erza could do little to keep herself from being hit, and tumbled back to her feet, rushing forward and slammed her gauntlet-clad fist into the wall, only to have it nearly shredded by the sharpness of the barrier. Erigor chuckled, "I wouldn't bother, because my little barrier only goes one way: from the outside to the inside." He grinned as Erza glared up at him with hatred. "If you try to get out, the wind will only slice up that hot little body of yours."

"Why are you doing this?!" Erza roared.

Erigor laughed, "Well, it's a birdcage, of course, or rather a fly cage...though it's a little big for that, even if you're pretty big flies." He said, drifting away from the station, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I've wasted too much time on you!" He cackled and shot away, flying over the town.

"Where are you going!?" Erza yelled furiously, "We're not done talking! Erigor!" She snarled, her right arm bleeding badly from the shredding winds, "What's going on?!" She snapped with fury, "Is it like Naruto thought? That this town wasn't their target?!"

=x=

Naruto was finishing up with tying up the Eisenwald members left behind, and dusted off his hands as he turned back to Lucy and Happy. "Is that all of them?" He asked as Lucy and Happy dragged in the last of the Rune Knights that had been killed by Erigor. It was a grim task, but Lucy had done it, even though she was pale, and had small flecks of blood on her clothes, and hands.

Lucy nodded shakily, "Y-yeah, I think we got them all," she stammered, shaking, "Um, I know it's probably not a good idea to ask, but why did you ask me to bring them in here?"

Naruto nodded to her, smiling tiredly, "Mainly because I'm gonna be weakened badly after this next spell," he said, confusing her, "Don't worry, Lucy, you'll see in a moment."

Beard was just coming awake as the young man strode over to the bodies. "Hey..." he groaned, "...what the hell...?"

Naruto glared back over his shoulder, "You go back to sleep," he growled, "I don't have time to play with you right now." The cold look in the man's eyes silenced him right away, even frightening Lucy and Happy when they saw it.

"Wow, Naruto's really scary," Happy quipped, hiding behind Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy nodded, remaining quiet as she watched her friend kneel in front of the corpses. He placed his hands together as if in prayer just as Erza came back into the room, and began to glow.

"Oh..." Lucy breathed.

"Wow." Happy chirped quietly as the white glow that overtook the blond spread to his hair, turning it pure white. His eyes shone with a golden glow. Erza was just as stunned as they were. Not with the beauty of the spell. But with the amount of magic that was rolling off of the blond.

"What are you doing!?" Erza snapped, but was ignored as Naruto clapped his hands together, a echoing ring sounding throughout the room.

" _I ask the strands of rejuvenation, give name to the glimmer that burns eternal, never to be doused, and instill it with hope,_ " A magical glyph spread out from where the blond knelt, engulfing the fallen knights in its light. Naruto's tanned skin began to pale to an unhealthy shade of alabaster as he clapped his hands once more, "RESURRECTION!" The light became blinding as the spell was cast.

"What the hell -?!" Gray's voice shouted from above them, startling the younger blonde.

"Did he just say resurrections?!" Erza shouted, "That's necromancy!"

Lucy ground her teeth as the light began to die down, "Naruto would never do that!" She shouted angrily at the red-head, "This is Celestial Magic!"

Erza growled at being shouted at, "Whatever it is, if the effects are as I suspect, then this spell has a high price!"

She was not wrong, for as the light died down, it revealed Naruto still crouched down, his skin nearly grey in his exhaustion, and sweat beading his brow as his breathing came out in shallow puffs. His eyes had dulled to several shades paler than she'd ever seen them. Lucy, seeing the state he was in, immediately rushed forward as the young man began to topple over.

"Naurto," she knelt to help him to his feet, and felt his skin growing cold to the touch, "Oh, God, he's ice-cold!"

"Hurry, summon a spirit that can shoot fire!" Happy cried worriedly.

"I don't have anyone like that!" She yelled, pulling out Virgo's key, "Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

Virgo appeared in a puff of smoke, a small smile on her face, "You summoned me, Princess?"

Lucy turned to the Spirit, looking desperate, "Virgo, I need something from the Spirit World. Some kind of blanket or anything that'll warm Naruto up." She said, tears peeking at the corners of her eyes, "And please, hurry, he's freezing!"

"Right away," Virgo said, seeing the seriousness of the situation, and disappeared, reappearing almost instantly, "Forgive the wait, Princess," she said, presenting her with a deep blue cloak with golden trim, and stars stitched into the back. "This robe should suffice to warm the Prince, as well as help restore his magical energy."

Lucy nodded gratefully, laying Naruto down on the floor, and accepting the robe. She and happy placed the robe over him like a blanket while the blond rested. Virgo provided a pillow and placed it under his head so he would be more comfortable.

Erza came over to them and grasped him by the front of his shirt, "Hey, what the hell did you just do?!" She demanded, even though the man was obviously unconscious, "If you just performed Black Magic, I'll - !"

Lucy shoved her way between them, "Stop it!" She roared, "I already told you, he's not a Dark Wizard! That was an Angel's spell!"

"E-excuse me?" As one, the two women turned toward the slain knights...and saw that many were sitting up, looking around in confusion, or just stirring. "Would...would someone explain to me what's going on?" One of them asked, "I remember being attacked...and then I was in a strange place...a white place...with a huge black gate..."

"Yeah, me, too," another one said, frowning, clasping his head in slight pain, "But something kept telling me not to go near it."

Erza was stunned. All of these men had been _dead_ only moments ago! "How...how is this possible?"

"Virgo," Lucy said, addressing the maiden, "You're a Celestial Spirit, so you must know what kind of spell Naruto used, and why it effected him like this?"

Virgo nodded, "Yes, it is a spell the revives the recently dead," she clarified, "But the toll it takes on the body of the caster is not normally so extreme, but, seeing as the Prince used it on several bodies at once, it must have sapped all of the magic he had out of him. It will take several hours before he is able to move."

Erza frowned at this, "Does the spell have any effects on the ones the spell's cast upon?" She asked.

Virgo shook her head, "No, only the caster is harmed if he or she revives more than one person at once." She said, "It was most likely sheer luck that he survived casting that spell on so many."

"They were taken before their time," Naruto mumbled, his eyes cracking open, looking up at a relieved Lucy, and a stoic Erza, "Sorry I scared you like that, Lucy."

Lucy smiled at him, "It's okay," she said, wiping away the tears that had gathered in her eyes, "It's so like you to do something like this, but next time, just give me a heads up, okay?"

"Deal," he said, smiling, and looked weakly at Erza, "What happened to Erigor?"

Erza scowled, "He ran off, and trapped us in the station with a Wind Barrier." She said, looking down at him, "You were right, this station was never his true target."

Gray, finally overcoming his shock, jumped down from the balcony, "You're right, he's headed for Clover," he said, causing Erza to look at him in shock as Naruto tried to sit up, "He's going after the Guild Masters!"

* * *

 _ **Erigor's plan is revealed, and Naruto's use of his magic seems to come with a great price as he tries to recover from bringing back the victims of Erigor's ruthlessness.**_

_**Sorry it took me so long to get this out :p No excuses really.**_

 _ **Well, if you liked it, leave a review!**_


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